


Ylisse Now!

by PrescribedMadness



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, It was fluff but now it's just pain, Make the angst go away, Save the cinnamon rolls
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-23
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-03 23:22:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 181,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6631300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrescribedMadness/pseuds/PrescribedMadness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In an attempt to find the love of her life, and become the world-class journalist she's always dreamed of, Robin joins her brother's school in Ylisse. Unfortunately, things get a bit more difficult when she finds out that the school's newspaper is in dire straits and she's the only one who has the ability to save it. Cue drama, romance and general shenanigans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Editorial Tutorial

The soft early morning light peaked in through the thin cloth curtains, casting speckled golden patterns over the beige birch nightstand. An early autumn breeze drifted in from the partially opened window and disrupted the sunlight’s placement, instead casting it on the scrunched up face of the room’s inhabitant.

Robin stirred, squinting her eyes and raising her hand to protect herself from the intruding rays of the sun, and caught sight of the digital clock next to her. The girl froze mid-movement, making an exaggerated ‘O’ with her mouth, then leapt out from under her dragon-patterned bedsheets already fully dressed in her casual school attire.

“I’m gonna be late!” The girl exclaimed rather loudly, shoving on a pair of ragged converse before stumbling out her sticker-plastered bedroom door. Despite the carpeted floor of the landing, her heavy adrenaline filled footsteps shook the house until she eventually got to the stairway. For a couple of steps she attempted to slide down the bannister, though tripped a fifth of the way down so decided to continue the descent pretending nothing had happened.

She burst into the tiled kitchen, instantly wrenching a slice of bread from the nearby open loaf and dropping it in the toaster. She began to stare at the appliance with baited breath.

Jay, who was sat on the edge of the kitchen table, stared at her.

“This is the second time you’ve ‘gotten up’ this morning,” Her brother mused. Despite being born a year apart, the two had an almost striking resemblance: same silver coloured hair, same scrawny build, and same ghostly pale skin – heck, even the same obnoxious smile that crinkled up at the one side of their mouth. The only things that separated their appearances at the moment were the squared glasses Jay wore and the upturned eyebrow he held on her.

Robin turned away from the toasty prison and pouted at her sibling. He pulled out his phone, nodding to himself before turning his gaze on her again. “That, and you’re still nowhere near late. School starts at nine and it’s not even twenty past eight yet.” At that, Robin sighed overdramatically and leaned on the doorframe, hands on her hips.

“I’ve _told_ you this, Jay, the first day of school will only be successful if I adhere to the following rules,” She held up her hand with her fingers outstretched, beginning to count them down. “First, I have to be ‘late’, rush out of bed in a hurry and run downstairs. Secondly, I have to wear clothes that are cute, but not too girly. There has to be a hint of tomboyish charm to my appearance,” Robin gestured down at her simple clothing. Jay simply stared at her with a small smirk playing across his lips. “Thirdly, I must have a piece of toast. But not only that, I must burst out of the house with the slice of warmed bread in my mouth after some words from an encouraging family member, something like ‘Go get ‘em tiger!’ and – with enough luck – I shall collide into the love of my life.”

Her brother, the one wearing the shirt plastered with the image of the Millennium Falcon and a backpack covered in the various expressions of Spock, laughed at her. Robin stared indignantly at him, watching a tear leak out from one of his eyes as he hysterically pounded his hand on the kitchen table. After a few moments of Robin’s cheeks getting superheated in embarrassment, he gathered himself and took off his glasses to rub his eyes.

“Oh my gods, Robin, you crack me up,” He grinned, slipping off the granite table top and walking over to her. He only stood a couple of inches taller than her, so in an effort to regain her lost pride Robin crossed her arms and stood on her tip toes. “Besides that, you’ve already had breakfast this morning,” Jay quickly snatched the toast that popped up next to them, taking a bite out of it as he walked away. “One of those chocolate croissants.”

“It’s called a pain au chocolat,” Robin mumbled abashedly in reply, licking the taste of chocolate off the back of her teeth. “But you must understand that you’re getting in the way of your little sister’s big shot at romance! Don’t you feel guilty?” She whined, following Jay around the side of the kitchen to pick up his bag. He paused for a moment, turning to face her and placing a hand on his chin in thought.

“Hm. Nope, not really.” He grinned, ruffling her hair and slinging his dark hoodie over his head. After seeing that it had the Batman symbol sprawled across the chest, Robin resisted the urge to collide her hand with her forehead.

“This is my new chance at a new school; an untainted land of opportunity, teeming to the brim with various hot guys and… Other things,” Jay continued to walk around the kitchen with an unimpressed expression. He’d obviously heard this speech before. “Don’t you know that a girl’s late teens is the prime opportunity t-“

“To explore the boundaries of romance and find a man who will whisk her off her feet, show her the joys of the world and who she’ll live happily forever after with, blah blah blah, etcetera etcetera,” He turned back to her, already half-finished the slice of toast he’d so heinously stolen. “You’re just saying that as an excuse to let your grades slip. You’ll get over it as soon as you get back into writing again.” Robin grumbled to herself at his reply, hefting her pastel purple messenger bag over one shoulder.

“Whatever. With skills like these you can bet that I’ll be the chief editor of your mangy school’s newspaper in no time, but boys are a whole other beast that require far more of my faculties,” Robin looked at her feet as she waited for her brother to eat the remaining dregs of his breakfast. The sound of the doorbell drew her attention as she began to walk to the front door. “Ugh, saying that, since this is the school _you_ go to there probably aren’t even any hot guys to speak of.” Jay raised his eyebrows at her, a few crumbs plastered to his chin as she reached out a pale hand to open the door.

In front of her, stood in the doorway to their house, was a boy who may as well have been the incarnation of Adonis himself. His well-toned arm muscles were exposed by the rolled up sleeves of his undone jacket, his short, neatly trimmed and styled navy hair perfectly framing the rugged, sharp features of his face, and he wore a friendly smile that caused shivers to run up Robin’s spine and butterflies to flap violently in her stomach. He cleared his throat.

“You’re Robin, right? It nice to meet you! I’m Chrom, one of your brother’s friends.” This demi-god, ‘Chrom’, offered an open hand to her. The blood had rushed to Robin’s face so quickly that she felt a bit dizzy, though it did not stunt the euphoria she felt when she reached out to shake his hand. Despite his hand being quite a bit bigger than her own, they made a perfect fit, and when they parted Robin could not help but stare at the palm of the limb that just touched her sure to be future husband.

“N-nice to meet you too.” She practically whispered, unable to look up at his dazzling cerulean eyes. Jay put an arm on one of her shoulders, giving her a strained smile that suggested he was just about able to hold back another bout of laughter.

“Let’s get going then, shall we?”

* * *

The school’s sports hall was surprisingly large, easily seating the somewhat small populace that made up the student body. The clean, grey brick walls were covered with gold and green banners depicting encouraging messages for the ‘Ylisse Bears’, along with drawings of the giant bumbling mascot itself. Robin sat next to her brother on the wooden bleachers, the sound of hushed conversations from their fellow classmates emanating from all around them. Jay looked exasperated.

“Look, I’m not opposed to you taking an interest in guys – heck, even if he is one of my closest friends – but are you sure that it’s okay for you to be crushing this badly on someone given your track record?” The pale boy pinched the bridge of his nose. Robin simply sat up straighter, holding her nose in the air.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have no ‘track record’ to speak of.” She took a sideways glance at him to see the unconvinced expression on his face.

“Oh, you don’t remember? Allow me to refresh your memory: two years ago in your old school, the boy you took gardening club for – Yarne.” Robin scoffed at the mention of the name.

“That was just a long-haired guy phase,” She explained, though paused to bite her lip in uncertainty. “…He just ran off screaming and crying from me that one time because I accidentally pressure hosed his prized carrot patch into a muddy unsalvageable mess. No big deal.” In her defence, the labels on the head of the hose were very vague. Not only that, it was very hard to control a raging garden hose when put on its highest setting. 

“Okay then, a few months later. That quiet boy who liked sewing. Gerome. The one you accidentally burned the hand of to the point he had to wear a plaster on it for the next few weeks.” Robin winced slightly at the mention of that one.

“He was just showing me how to applique, and… Well, his hand brushed mine and I got a little overexcited. That hot iron was placed rather precariously in the first place, it’s just that… In my enthusiasm, I er… y’know, happened to knock it over. I didn’t mean it or anything.” Jay stared at her pointedly, arms crossed now.

“And Inig-“

“DON’T. Mention. His name,” Robin sighed, slumping forward and rubbing her face with a hand in resignation. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I am destined to be a lonely old hag with twenty billion cats.” Jay mirrored her sigh, putting his hand on her back and slowly patting it.

“Hey, now I’m not saying that. Just… Be careful, yeah? Can the excitement a little and keep your priorities in check,” She looked up at her brother’s face and found one of his goofy encouraging smiles. Robin couldn’t help but turn up the corner of her lip in response. “Y’know what you should look forward to? Clubs are open for application this afternoon. I bet they’d let you into the Newspaper Club no questions asked.” Robin laughed lightly at his compliment, sitting up again and playfully punching his arm.

“You bet. I’m a legend, and even the hicks of this town are sure to realise that.” She made a wide, victorious smirk. Her brother smiled back in response, and just as he was about to open his mouth the sound of someone clearing their throat echoed throughout the hall. Everyone turned to the front of the bleachers where three figures stood awaiting their attention.

One of the standing figures she’d recognised straight away: the boy in blue himself, Chrom, stood next to a blonde woman she could only assume was their headmistress. She was surprisingly young, as the rumours said, and had a very kind, soft expression. Her long golden hair tumbled down her shoulders, its middle parting exposing a rather curious looking birthmark on her forehead.

On her other side stood a rather tall girl with long red hair that fell down her back. She had very sharp features and weirdly perfect poise, a confident smile plastered across her unnaturally beautiful face. The trio stood together looked like the apex of physical perfection, ready to jump out of a fashion magazine right at them.

The woman surveyed the group of students quietly with her jade eyes, waiting a few seconds before finally announcing anything to them. Despite such a gentle voice, her every word carried easily around the hall.

“Today marks the start of a new year at Ylisse, and we welcome everyone – old and new – to our wonderful school. I am Miss Emmeryn Exalt and am pleased to say that I shall be your headmistress for the coming months,” A small bout of polite clapping spread across the students. “I don’t want to keep you from your fun much longer, so I just want to say that I wish everyone well for this year and if you may ever need assistance, you are more than welcome to ask.” The clapping resurged again as Emmeryn took a step back, nodding to Chrom and the red headed girl.

“Right, this morning you’ll all be helping set the clubs up for this afternoon’s sign up process. New students, stay behind so that I can show you around the campus.” At Chrom’s words, everyone began to stand up and grab their bags.

Robin looked around from her spot, frowning as she noticed that practically everyone was leaving. She grabbed her brother’s sleeve.

“Shouldn’t my year be staying behind for the campus tour since we’re all new to the school?” Jay blinked and chuckled lightly, that tell-tale obnoxious smile of the Finch family beginning to appear.

“The vast majority of people here are from the affiliated school, so they’ve already been given the ins-and-outs of our fine establishment,” His smile was beginning to grow more Cheshire-cat like by the second. “Which means you get a personal sightseeing journey with none other than our head boy himself.” Robin whipped her head around to the front to find that Chrom was the only one there waiting.

Her face was starting to feel a bit warm again at the prospect of spending some one-on-one time with him. She heard Jay chuckle as he stood up, patting her shoulder as he began to walk off. “Go get ‘em, tiger.” Robin rose to her feet and quickly grabbed her bag, beginning to step her way down off the bleachers. She cast one final look to her brother who was walking out the door, mouthing to her ‘try not to kill him’.

The large, heavy door of the sports hall closed with a loud thud. Robin darted her head back around to the front as she stepped out onto the shiny wooden floor, seeing the friendly smile of Chrom as she fought the urge to be a total idiot.

Maybe the next hour or so of this alone time would be the start of their beautiful life together. Yes, after realising how they are made for eachother, Chrom would then come to accept Robin as his one true love and disregard all other pretences for the sake of proposing to her right here right now. Then after she became a world renowned journalist the two would finally settle down in a humble shack near the Feroxi woodlands and have two kids that, when asked how they fell in love, they would regale the tale of their mother’s first day in school with their father.

“So, guess you’re the only new girl here then, huh?” Robin was shaken out of her daydreams by the baritone of the blue haired boy in front of her. He flashed a couple of his pearly white teeth at her, which was enough to almost turn her knees into jelly.

“Y-yeah! Looks l-like it!” Robin tittered, her voice an octave higher than usual. She cast her eyes to him, trying to hold back a huge grin as he started to step towards the door further down the hall.

“Okay then, let’s get goi-“ Chrom was interrupted by a huge crash from behind them, his half open mouth pulled back into a mildly startled expression. Robin turned to look back and saw the big doors wrenched open, with a mess of purple and pink collapsed on the side of the bleachers in front of them. The mass of colour suddenly picked itself up and began to run over to them.

“O-oh gods I’m s-so sorry! I’m l-late aren’t I? I got distracted b-by a puppy th-then I followed the s-signs in the wr-wrong direction and… And…” The face of the girl stood in front of them was a darker shade of pink than her hair, though it was mostly obscured by a white woolly scarf. Her violet eyes flicked up momentarily at Robin and Chrom before quickly returning to them to her feet, bowing her head in shame. “I-I’m Olivia… I’m n-new so I was t-told to come here…?”

Robin stared at her with a mix of pity and frustration, the latter mostly because her morning date with Chrom just became a party for three. Although it was hard to stay mad at the girl when her shoulders started to wrack occasionally with the sound of muffled sniffling as she remained entranced with her shoes. Chrom looked at her for a moment before snapping his fingers in realisation, his usual friendly grin returning.

“You’re the Feroxi transfer, right? Basilio said you’d be joining us today. Looks like you made it just in time!” Olivia finally looked up at that, though focused more on his chin rather than his face. “I was just about to start the tour. Our new transfer from Plegia is new to us today as well.” He gestured to Robin. Olivia’s gaze followed and she managed to meet Robin’s dark golden eyes.

Upon closer inspection, Olivia was absolutely undeniably adorable. Her slightly glossy, red rimmed eyes only seemed to accentuate the soft beauty of her face and she managed a small, mousy smile. Robin’s own mouth seemed to tighten at the edges curtly in return.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Robin.” She held out her hand. A flash of terror crossed Olivia’s face for a moment, though still managed to meet her challenge and shook her hand. As Robin expected, her hand was shaking harder than the last leaf in winter. In that moment she seemed so ridiculously fragile; if Robin held her too roughly she feared she’d pull Olivia’s porcelain appendage right from her shoulder.

Chrom looked between the two with a sunny expression as they turned to face him. He resumed his march back to the door.

“Alright! Let’s go then!”

* * *

While there was no sign of Chrom falling madly in love with her, Robin supposed that the first half hour of their campus tour went alright. Despite being on the edge of the capitol city, the local neighbourhood was pretty unpopulated, leaving this sprawling mass of fields mostly untouched. It didn’t seem like a bad thing though: it left plenty of room for the various sporting associations to claim their own patches of grass and allowed for an uninterrupted view of the bright Ylissean scenery.

The school’s buildings and facilities themselves were all built of light brick, with gold and green draped everywhere. They were pretty old but seemed to hold up well, the insides decked out with a mix of chalk boards and wooden chairs that tied together the rather rustic aesthetic that the establishment seemed to exude. It didn’t seem like a bad place by all means.

As they were walking past a single story block to the side of their cobblestone path, Chrom turned around and gave the two girls his usual charming smile.

“…And this is the canteen! As expected, it’s the place you can go to get some food or drinks and is generally just a cosy hang-out area if you’re not a big fan of the outside,” Olivia and Robin glanced to the building. It actually seemed slightly more modern than the others they passed, complete with a pair of swanky glass sliding doors and a covered cork board hanging on the wall. “It’s also where the bulletin board is. It’s good to check there to see if anything interesting’s going on… And, well, there’s always at least something happening at any given time.” Robin made a mental note of that. After she joined the Newspaper Club she imagined that’s where she’d get the details of all the events they had to cover.

The three continued on walking for a few seconds but then had their attention pulled by the field over to their right. A good amount of people were walking across the grass further down, leading what seemed to be a few horses to the other side of the campus. One of the boys helping lead a particularly big stallion turned to look at the three. He had tanned skin mostly exposed by his vest top and khaki shorts, his pulled back blonde hair moving to the side as he squinted at the trio from a distance. As soon as he noticed Chrom he began waving energetically.

Chrom cracked a grin and began waving back, the only real communication the two could have at this distance. The blonde boy stopped and gave Chrom what appeared to be a thumbs up, then turned back to the horse and pulled back his hand preparing to give the lumbering stallion a bit of a push. Chrom’s smile faded when he realised what he was about to do. Panic flashed in his eyes and he quickly cupped his hands to his mouth, shouting across the field.

“WAIT! Vaike, don’t! That’s Sully’s-“ But it was too late. As soon as the last syllable on ‘don’t’ rang out, the boy slapped the back of the stallion, causing it to rear up and give a terrifying, world-ending whinny. The reins pulled out from the hands of those that were holding it as the horse began cantering away from their grasp. The situation only seemed to devolve as the ferocious beast scared the handlers of the other horses that were being led. This eventually ended up with not one, but about four horses running free across the grassy plains. All the nearby students leaped into action, including Chrom who quickly sprinted away from Robin and Olivia to try and control the chaos.

Robin looked on as she saw a stocky girl with a pixie cut walk over to scold the guy who she assumed was Vaike. Her face was almost as red as her hair and her features were pulled back in what could only be described as a mask of infinite fury.  By now, pretty much the entire school were running after the fugitives, reducing the surrounding ambience to a mess of horse hooves, screaming and, she presumed, distant explosions.

She turned back to Olivia whose face looked as bewildered as she felt. The girl glanced over to meet her eyes, and Robin was beginning to think that Olivia may have been better off just spending the morning with that puppy she found. Still, the shy Feroxi was the only thing Robin had for the moment.

“Wanna go get some coffee?”

* * *

It was a short walk to the completely abandoned canteen. Even from inside the bricked building, the distant cries of their fellow students drifted in. The only other human being that they met on the way there had seemed to take the form of a giant pile of cake. The two stopped next to the large amalgamate dessert with legs, Robin’s face scrunched up with a look of pained dissatisfaction.

This day just kept on getting weirder and weirder.

“Uh, excuse me. You did pay for those cakes, right?” A face shot out from the side of the shortcake. It was a boy, his surprised leafy eyes framed by short ginger hair, with a mouth and chin that were covered in a mess of jam and icing. He went to say something, exposing his cat-like canines.

“Well, you see, the thing about that is…” He paused and looked between Robin and Olivia. Then promptly ran off towards the front door of the canteen. A trail of crumbs and half-eaten muffins were left in the wake of the ginger haired cake thief, the only proof that the two girls hadn’t just hallucinated. They said nothing and just kept on walking.

A few minutes later, the two girls were sat on one of the chic round tables of the canteen, warm cups of coffee in their hands. They ended up having to make it themselves as the kitchen staff had run off to help in the battle with the horses, though the only thing that really bothered Robin about the whole situation was the completely empty cake display next to the cash register. She took a sip of the beverage and sighed, turning to Olivia. Robin figured she may as well try to make the best out of the ordeal.

“So, why’d you transfer from Feroxi?” Olivia jumped at the sound of her voice, turning to look at her, then the coffee, then her again, until finally settling her gaze on the table as she deflated into her seat. During the entirety of the tour Robin hadn’t heard Olivia speak once, apart from her breathless introduction. She figured that someone didn’t get _that_ painfully shy unless they had some sort of Dark and Brooding Background. Maybe Robin could write a piece on the quiet gal to try and get her to come out of her shell… Actually no, scratch that, given her state she’d probably cry and never come to school again out of embarrassment.

“I…” Olivia began, biting her lip and pulling her scarf up to cover more of her face. “…Wasn’t good at… Speaking, o-or… Making friends,” She tried her best not to stumble over her words, going over them carefully. “So… My unc-I mean, er, old head teacher said I may be better off starting somewhere new. Somewhere a lot brighter a-and livelier than Feroxi… T-to try and get some more confidence.” Olivia trailed off, lightly tapping her pink fingernail against the edge of her coffee cup. Robin nodded thoughtfully, smiling slightly to herself. It wasn’t exactly as Dark and Brooding as she expected, but it was sweet nonetheless.

In that moment, Olivia seemed far more vulnerable than usual. Her soft, pale features darkened slightly at the memory. She rubbed her eyes as discreetly as she could possibly manage. “That’s why I… Have to try my b-best not to mess up again,” She sniffed. Robin’s nonchalant expression froze as she looked over to her. The look of sadness on her face was enough to make Robin’s heart break. “I d-don’t want people to think that I’m… That I’m a u-useless, b-blithering idiot.”

A small silence passed filled only with faraway screams and the sob that Olivia was trying to desperately choke in her throat.

“…Being unable to make any friends, huh…?” Robin looked over to the girl, trying to keep a soft expression. “Yeah… Yeah, I know that feeling.” Olivia perked up a little at that, glancing at Robin with those glistening, violet eyes. Robin turned to look down at the coffee she held in her hands, steeling her resolve. That’s right, this time it was going to be different. And this is as good a start as any.

The pale haired girl placed her cup down and stood up, causing Olivia to jump a little at the unexpected movement. Despite having ruined her one-on-one date with Chrom that morning, Robin couldn’t help but feel a certain kinship with the pink haired girl. Maybe it was because of how they were both new, or those beseeching kicked puppy eyes Olivia produced, but Robin decided she liked this girl. Or, at least, she couldn’t stand to see her cry.

Robin turned to her with the accidentally obnoxious Finch grin, putting out her hand to the flustered Feroxi in a fashion similar to that morning.

“But that doesn’t matter anymore! Because I, Robin Finch, hereby declare myself as your new friend!” Olivia’s jaw went lax in surprise and her eyes went wide, dispelling any tears that happened to be forming there. She looked from her pale hand then to her face. It looked like she was trying to decide whether Robin was trying to trick her or not.

Cautiously, and ever so slowly, Olivia reached out her hand to hers. At the contact, Robin pulled her up, and she could see now that Olivia was beaming.

“Thank you.” She murmured, staring up at her as a light dusting of pink began to spread across the bridge of her nose. It’d been a long time since Robin had made anyone smile like that – well, anyone that wasn’t her brother. She felt a warm feeling pool up inside her chest at the sight of Olivia’s happy expression.

Robin’s grin suddenly faltered as Olivia burst into immediate, uncontrollable bawling. She froze, glancing around the room desperately trying to find what had suddenly caused this change in mood.

“Uh, Olivia, are you o-“ The pink haired girl sniffed, rubbing the tears from her face with one hand and slapping herself on the cheek with the other.

“I’m fine, I’m fine! I’m j-just… Happy, is all…!” Olivia inhaled then exhaled deeply, calming herself down and managing to stop Niagara Falls from tumbling down her face. The two girls looked at eachother and burst into fits of laughter.

“Y-you cry if you’re happy? W-what the heck’s w-wrong with you?” Robin gasped out between chuckles.

“I-I don’t know! I just get r-really emotional!” Olivia returned, trying to cover her mouth to stop herself from smiling. It took about three minutes for them to actually calm down from their joint hysteria. The two sat on the edge of the table and glanced around the still empty canteen.

“What should we do now then, uh, n-new friend?” The perky smile Olivia now wore was infectious, and Robin’s own mouth ended up twitching at the sides.

“Well, I think-“ A large smack sounded from the other side of the room. The two turned to see a semi-conscious ginger individual sliding down the outside of the window, a horse running past outside and bringing hell in its wake. They instantly recognised him as the perp from earlier, his hoard of desserts splattered across the remainder of the window. “…Maybe we should go help with the horses.”

* * *

All in all, it took the entirety of the school’s residents and about two hours to round up the unruly equines that plagued the grounds. Surprisingly, there were only two injuries – the ginger guy (who Jay later told Robin was called Gaius, another one of his friends) and Vaike, who had been kicked in the face so hard by the red-headed girl that he got a minor concussion. Luckily, despite the major interruption, everyone banded together to set up the clubrooms (except the Equestrian Club who were exhausted) while Chrom finished showing Olivia and Robin around the school.

At this point only about an hour was left for the day, so the pre-planned activities that they’d all set up had to be cancelled. Not that anybody really cared; the horse happenings had taken the energy out of everyone.

“What club are you joining, Robin?” Olivia chirped as the two stood in front of the sign showing which rooms they were all in. Robin frowned at the listings. They were vast, that was for sure: Cooking Club, Track and Field Club, Basketball Club, Orchestra Club… Occult Club? She shook her head, scanning them again trying to find the one she was looking for.

“Newspaper. You?” The pink haired girl seemed to be looking for something amongst the clubs as well, though she just shrugged to herself and turned back to Robin.

“Not sure yet! I think I’ll just go have a look at a few…” She glanced around at the signs pointing to all the different directions the clubs were located in. “I’ll see you tomorrow then! Good luck getting accepted!” Robin smiled in response and waved at the girl as she began to walk off in the direction of the Crochet Club.

“You too!” She waited until Olivia was out of sight to sigh deeply in exasperation, banging her head against the wall. “Where the hell is it?” A hand materialised out of nowhere, appearing on her shoulder. Robin jumped a mile and swung around to find the grinning face of her brother.

“So. You made a new friend.” It was a statement, not a question. Jay’s voice had an oddly cheerful sing-song tune to it. Robin’s face went slightly red, not expecting to have her sibling appear out of the ether just to tell her about things she already knew.

“…Yes,” She said cautiously, looking to her feet in an attempt to act casual about it. “I-It’s no big deal Jay, honestly. People make friends all the time. Well, not me usually, but still. It’s not weird. Humans like other humans. It’s biology, Jay, _biology_. Pack nature and all that. And another thi- gods could you _please_ stop grinning like that?!” Her brother laughed in response.

“It’s just good to see you getting on with someone else so well.” Robin’s cheeks inflated.

“I didn’t come here to make friends, you know!”

“No, that’s right. You came here to meet the love of your life, yeah?” The girl’s face had gone completely crimson at this point. Crossing her arms and tossing her nose in the air was the only thing she could do to try and regain the last dregs of dignity she had. The whole Chrom thing didn’t really pan out too well in the end, but hey, it was only the first day of school – maybe it takes someone more than a few hours to fall in love with you.

Robin exhaled, calming herself down and looking at her brother.

“Har har, very funny. Now, could you tell me where the Newspaper Club room is? It’s not on the list.” Jay’s smile didn’t fade, instead he pulled out a piece of paper and placed it in her hand. Robin looked down at the scrap and unfurled it.

“It’s over in the first building by the entrance. Third floor, last room on your right,” Jay patted her one last time on the shoulder and began to walk off. “I’ll meet you at the front gate after school, alright?” Robin looked up from the paper and nodded at him.

“Right. See you then.” Now left on her own, Robin popped the slip in her bag and started to walk along the cobblestone path to the front of the school. Unlike the chaos of a few hours earlier, the campus seemed calm – even serene – with only the odd few people walking about here and there.

The excitement only really hit her when she started walking up the first flight of stairs. Robin ran her spindly fingers along the rail, twitching slightly in anticipation. This was going to be her first step into the world of professional journalism, she knew. It’d only be a short leap from the Chief Editor of the school newspaper to Chief Editor of the _‘Ylisstol Weekly’_ bulletin with her skills. The thought of having one of those offices on the top floor of a huge skyscraper sent tingles of impatience down to her legs, which had begun to quickly skip up the dark wooden steps.

She’d had some setbacks the last few years, sure, especially with the whole Plegia Newspaper debacle. Though that was more due to some unforeseen circumstances rather than her own ability. Robin hoped, anyway. Regardless, she was sure she could get her career back on track – this school was bound to be full of nothing but pure journalist amateurs, ready to be moulded by Robin’s own expert hands. Yes, this was definitely her big chance.

Her heart started pounding loudly by the time she finally reached the third floor. The nerves were causing her feet to wobble more and more, step by step, as she got closer to the last door on the right. She stopped in front of it.

This was it.

Robin took another deep breath, held it for a few seconds, and then exhaled. She grinned confidently to herself, finally taking the step forward and pushed open the large mahogany double-doors with both her hands to see…

…A room empty save for one large oak desk, a computer, and a guy who looked over at her with a surprised expression.

Robin’s heart plummeted.

She took another slow step forward, her brow wrinkling as she whipped her head around to look at the entirety of the room. It was a very nice room, for sure, but it was so _empty_. There were no extra desks for all the columnists, no whiteboard covered in red string and gossip obtained from around the campus, and no piles of previous, successful issues. In fact, the only thing that even resembled a newspaper that she could see was a single, sad pile of stapled paper on the desk.

Robin was expecting it to be bad, but she didn’t even dream that it’d be _this_ bad.

The boy stood next to the desk cleared his throat, drawing her attention. He was tall and slightly stocky, sporting a mess of olive coloured bed hair and a pair of lazy, hazel eyes. When Robin just stared at him with her crestfallen expression, he awkwardly glanced around and rubbed his slightly freckled nose.

“Can I help you?” His friendly voice snapped Robin out of her stupor. She took another look around, trying to gather herself, then turned back to him. She opened and closed her mouth for a few moments until she finally managed to formulate a question.

“Where’s the Newspaper Club?” The boy raised his eyebrows at the question, a look of innocent joy flushing his face, causing a big friendly grin to grow across his features.

“I’m the Newspaper Club!”

 


	2. From Footnotes to Bylines

The silence that fell over them was quickly filled by the muddled expressions of confusion that escaped from Robin’s mouth. She kept looking around the room, beginning to gesticulate wildly with her arms as if it would help her form an articulate thought. The boy, whose grin had not yet faded, watched her calmly as she began to descend into a flailing mess of disorientation.

“You… I… I don’t…” She abandoned her syllables halfway through, trying to grope for words again. The olive haired boy made a circular motion with his hands as a way of encouraging her to continue, waiting patiently for the girl to remember how to speak again. 

“Ugh!” Robin exclaimed in frustration, running both her hands through her silvery mess of hair. “Where’s the rest of the club?!” She finally finished, dropping her hands instantly to her hips in a show of intimidation. It wasn’t very effective however, since the boy easily stood a few inches over her. Seemingly oblivious to the sudden hostility, he cocked his head to the side and regarded her with a curious expression.

“I told you, I’m the only member,” His voice was gentle, perfectly matching his mellow, laid-back appearance. “Well… Sort of. I used to help out here on weekends back in my old school,” His small laugh rang out hollowly as he patted a hand on the side of the oak desk. “Not that it matters anymore. They’ve already cancelled the school newspaper for this year.” The girl’s arms went limp to her sides at the last bit. She paused for a moment before cautiously licking her lips.

“…C-cancelled?” She managed to squeak. The boy turned to regard her with subdued surprise. This couldn’t be happening, Robin decided. There’s no way they could cancel a school newspaper. It’s easily one of the most crucial parts of student life! How else is someone supposed to find out conveniently what all the club schedules are so they can stalk their crush, or what the recent gossip of the student body is, or what the head boy’s favourite colour is?! She would not stand for this injustice.

“Yeah… I thought everyone knew? That’s why they didn’t put the Newspaper Club on the sign-up sheet,” Robin balled up her fists and grit her teeth. _Jay._ Why the hell didn’t he tell her to save her the trouble of embarrassing herself?! Ugh, she would’ve transferred to a different school if she knew about this. You know. One that has a school paper. He was so gonna pay.

The boy looked at her thoughtfully, glancing her up and down. “Um… I’m sorry, but are you Jay Finch’s sister? You look really similar to him.” Robin snapped out of her thoughts of familicide and stood to attention.

“Oh, uh… Yeah. I’m Robin Finch.” A weak sigh escaped her lips following the deflated introduction. She was about to look wistfully around the room again before she realised that he was actually staring at her. A small flash of pink made its way to her cheeks.

“Well, nice to meet you! My name’s Stahl,” His warm smile returned to grace his features, making the starkness of the ex-office seem a little less depressing. Robin attempted to return it but the heaviness that now weighed on her made the smile seem too tight and fake. Stahl offered her a look of sympathy. “I’m guessing you wanted to join the club?” Robin nodded, turning her attention to the sad mess of what seemed to be the newspaper’s last issue that had congealed on the desk. She cleared her throat in an attempt to regain her composure.

“It was my whole reason for coming here,” She glanced briefly back over at him to try and feign a blasé attitude. Unfortunately it hadn’t worked, made apparent by how Stahl gave her a look reminiscent of an apologetic kitten.  Gods know why, it’s not like he’s the one who ruined the paper… Maybe. Robin raised an eyebrow. “How’d the paper get cancelled?” Stahl shifted awkwardly at the question, the edge of his lip twitching as he tried to formulate an answer.

“The head editor, uh, Anna, wasn’t… Exactly…” He ran a hand to the back of his neck, a look of confliction flashing across his hazel eyes. Now he was the one having difficulty trying to speak. “…Good. At all. By any means, in fact.” Robin snorted.

“There’s no way a newspaper can be ruined just by _one_ person.” She scoffed. To try and discern the candour of his statement, she decided to look at the newspaper itself. She looked down at the issue next to her.

Immediately from the front cover you could tell that it was doomed. The title of the paper – _‘Ylisse Post’,_ a dramatically boring and uninteresting name – was shoved unassumingly right at the bottom of the page, complete with a whopping size 14 text and comic sans font. Robin shuddered. Filling the rest of the cover, a place where there _should_ have been buzzwords, catchy phrases and pictures of events, were advertisements. Shameless, innumerable, unending advertisements. Robin gagged and had to look away before she threw up, returning to the face of Stahl who seemed to know her expression all too well. “What manner of monstrosity sent by Grima _did_ this?!” She hissed through teeth pulled back in disgust. Stahl shrugged, his eyes wide and a face of pure mystification.

“She literally sold our paper to the devil for spare coin!” He expressed, clearly exasperated. Upon closer inspection, he seemed as upset by the whole fiasco as she was – the disappointment reflected in the faint creases of his forehead. Stahl sighed deeply, leaning on the desk next to her and running a hand through his messy hair that seemed to stick out at odd angles. “The newspaper seemed to be doing okay – not great or anything, but okay… But _then_ she sold all the desks of the people who used to work here and they left,” He gestured to the empty room, specifically the spots of carpet that seemed darker than the rest. “When I came over to help I had to work in the storage cupboard.” To the left of the room was, in fact, an open storage cupboard. Inside there were tall metal shelves where various photographing and printing equipment _should_ be, but instead they were filled with dust and a single handheld camera. Also, a small stool and particularly large cardboard box which seemed to have functioned as a desk at one time. Robin’s eye twitched at the sight.

“It’s a wonder it survived for a whole year under her tyranny by the sounds of it,” Robin turned back to the newspaper, cringing slightly as she turned through the pages. It was almost impressive that this person managed to fit _so many_ advertisements in only a dozen pages. There were some trying to sell cartloads of logs, others looking for some ‘magical seals’, and the occasional one asking for fights to earn ‘renown’ (whatever the hell that is). Flicking through to about halfway she found a single page free from the scourge. She looked up at Stahl with a raised eyebrow and a slight smile. “An Agony Aunt column?” He laughed at its mention; a humble little chuckle that caused his cowlick to bounce.

“You mean ‘Ask Old Hubba’? Towards the end of its lifespan that was the only reason anyone really bought the paper.” Stahl peered over her shoulder at the page that featured some anonymous student writing in about boy problems. Robin regarded it with piqued interest, nodding absentmindedly to herself. Agony Aunt columns were always a big hit with teenage audiences – especially if they’re girls – so it’d make perfect sense to include it in a school newspaper. Such wasted potential.

“Who wrote it?” She turned to look up at Stahl who was by this point just on the edge of her personal bubble. He blinked dumbly at her then shrugged, offering his goofy grin once more.

“Nobody ever found out. Not even Anna knew who it was!” Robin deflated a bit, her shoulders sagging as she exhaled.

“That so, huh…” She bit her lip. It would be exceptionally hard to restore the reputation of a newspaper like this, but with a familiar and likable aspect that people recognised it would’ve been slightly easier. Stahl leaned on the back of his heels, scratching his cheek and giving her a sideways glance.

“…Though it only started last year, so it’d be reasonable to assume that the author’s still here,” He met Robin’s brighter glance with another quirky smile, then gestured with his head to the doors she’d pushed open. “We keep a letterbox with things people have written into Old Hubba on the door. The columnist’s the only one who has the key. They haven’t returned it or anything by the looks of it, so if the paper started running they’d probably still write.” There was, in fact, a small red letterbox screwed onto the right door. A small yet confident smirk began to creep its way onto Robin’s face.

“So, what you’re saying is… If we managed to get the paper back up, then we’d already have a well-liked column running?” Stahl nodded, hazel eyes a lot brighter than when she’d first entered the room. Robin walked around the desk to the chair – which she now realised had an empty cardboard pizza box placed on it instead of a cushion – and put both her hands on the desk. “In which case…” She slammed a hand down against the oak, causing a loud thud to ring out throughout the empty office space, then pulled herself up to stand on the chair. “I, Robin A. Finch, self-declared new head editor of the Ylisse newspaper, hereby vow to bring the paper back – and make it greater than it’s ever been!” Stahl looked up at her, excitement crinkling at the bridge of his nose and edge of his eyes. He stood up straight in mock salute, his grin spilling out across his cheeks even wider than before, and the previous disappointment that plagued his expression completely gone.

“I, Stahl D. Castleton, self-declared second in command of the Ylisse newspaper, shall hereby pledge to support our new head editor, offering my hard work and dedication to her noble quest!” The two stood with locked eyes, silly grins mirroring one another, until the final bell for the first day of school rang.

* * *

“Why the hell didn’t you _tell_ me that the newspaper was being shut down?!” It was 8:07 a.m. the next morning and already the Finch household had fallen into complete and utter chaos. Following the previous day, Robin had tried to talk to her brother but found him engrossed in conversation with his friends (specifically Chrom). So instead, as payback, she had awaited his descent into the kitchen with cooking utensils in hand.

“I didn’t think it was important!” Jay put his hands up in defence as he continued to back away from the girl now holding a plastic ladle threateningly at him. Panic had been dashed across his face ever since she knocked his glasses askew with her first strike from a whisk.

“You thought telling me about the newspaper being shut down, the essential gateway to my future of being an ace journalist, _wasn’t important?!_ ” Robin barked, hurling the ladle straight at his face. Jay squeaked and quickly managed to duck down behind a countertop before it went flying over his head.

“It’s not like it would’ve made any difference! You would’ve gone to check it out anyway!” Jay sidled around to the other side of the room, popping the top of his head up from the kitchen island. Robin weighed a spatula in her hand, eyes narrowing as she spotted her target’s reappearance.

“Well what the heck am I supposed to do now?! How am I supposed to be the head editor of the school newspaper _if there is no school newspaper!?_ ” Jay quickly ducked back behind the piece of furniture as the spatula landed, clanging into the fruit bowl. Robin began walking around the side of the room, trying to get a better visual on her prey.

“J-just ask Chrom to give the newspaper a chance! Since he’s head boy – and a pushover to boot – he’ll for sure be able to fix up the club!” Jay tripped and landed on his butt in an attempt to run away from his encroaching sister, ending up pulling himself backward and giving Robin a look of desperation from the tiled floor. She stopped at the mention of Chrom, scowling at Jay as he gave a silent plea for mercy.

“…Well, if C-Chrom can allow it…” She stuck out her lips in a pout, looking away from the pitiful pile on the floor. “…Then I’d still be able to spearhead the paper if it went well.” And fulfil that promise to Stahl, she added silently. Jay scrambled to his feet, putting his hands on her shoulders and nodding enthusiastically.

“Yeah! Exactly! All you’ll need to do is ask him at lunch or something today an-“

“Woah, woah, _wait_ ,” Robin’s face was red as she turned back to her brother. “W-why can’t you ask him for me?” Jay stared at her for a moment before the obnoxious grin began to reappear.

“Why? You too shy?” She pushed away from him, rubbing her reddening cheeks as she went to grab her schoolbag. Jay followed closely behind her after seeing the opportunity for teasing, all previous fear dissipated. “If he really is the love of your life then that means you actually do have to talk to him. Otherwise marriage would be a bit awkward.” Robin spun around, face crimson, her expression scrunched up into pure embarrassment.

“…W-Whatever! I know th-that!” Her voice came out as an indignant peep, only causing Jay’s grin to widen. “I-it’s… Just a work in p-progress, that’s all.” She turned her eyes to her shoes, fiddling with the strap of her bag. The doorbell rang out before Jay could administer any more snarky comments, resulting in Robin quickly running to the front door with her heart aflutter at the anticipation of seeing the blue boy wonder again. She sucked in a breath, put on her loveliest smile, and opened the door. Instead of being greeted by the charming and handsome face of Chrom however, she was met with the face of a boy she’d last seen sliding down the front of a window.

“Ugh. You.” Robin dropped her smile, frowning as she mumbled him an excuse of a greeting. Gaius raised an eyebrow at her, pulling a Coca-Cola flavoured lollipop from his mouth as he surveyed the girl in front of him with his catlike eyes. He then shifted his gaze to Jay who was stood behind her, waving politely to his ginger-haired friend.

“This your sister, Bubbles?” Robin bit the side of her cheek to fight back a laugh at the ridiculous nickname. Luckily neither of the boys seemed to notice. Jay leaned on the side of the doorframe and ruffled Robin’s hair into a silvery bird nest, causing her to squeak as she quickly tried to set it right again.

“Yep. Enchanting, isn’t she?” Gaius snorted as he watched her desperately pawing at her hair. A sort of petty revenge for catching him in the act yesterday, she assumed.

“Oh, yeah. Totally got me falling for her already. Give it a few days and you’ll have to start carrying a baseball bat to school to protect your sister from her hordes of admirers.” His voice was predictably slick-sounding, his green eyes flashing with mischief. The two boys exchanged their playful grins as Robin finally finished faffing with her hair, crossing her arms as she tried to stand up to her brother’s friend. Her face was a bright shade of scarlet.

“Y-you’re a thief!” She finally managed to supply, her voice a pitch higher than it should be. It was a very lame response, as made evident by Gaius’ nonplussed expression. He leaned down slightly so that he was face to face with her, his unsurprisingly sweet breath tickling the tip of her nose. Robin managed to stand her ground but could feel her chest beginning to get tight at the close contact.

“Oh yeah? And you’re a little mouse, Squeak.”

* * *

The walk to school had quickly devolved into a living nightmare of teasing, jokes about her unrequited love for the head boy, and Gaius’ continuous reference to Robin as her newfound nickname, ‘Squeak’. Jay – regardless of her many loud complaints – had immediately confided into Gaius about her huge crush on Chrom, a fact he ate up with great relish as he was apparently the boy’s best friend despite being in Robin’s year.

“Lucky for you I’m Blue’s right-hand man,” Gaius had purred, a chuckle beginning to rumble in his throat as he’d slid an arm around her shoulders. “Maybe I can put a good word in for you, Squeak.”

Now she was in her first session of form class. All the registration classes had a mix of the different years, so Robin was sat with Olivia on one side and Jay on the other. Their form teacher was a stocky man with slightly red hair, styled with some gel to stick up like a hedgehog’s quills. He surveyed the classroom with intensity in his thin eyes before he grinned to address everyone.

“Alright! You shall now be with Gregor for the rest of the year, yes? If anyone be having trouble – especially if you are being a lovely young lady – then do not be afraid to make with the seeing of him. You should be happy that you are getting to see Gregor’s handsome face every day!” Gregor’s jumbled English made a lot of their classmates chuckle, Jay included.

“I had him last year too,” Jay confided, leaning to whisper in Robin’s ear. “He may seem weird, but he’s a good guy. He manages most of the sports teams.” Olivia, on the other hand, had shrunken so far down into her chair that she was almost under the table. She flashed Robin a panicked look, pulling her scarf up more until only her lavender flecked eyes were visible. Gregor went back to his desk after speaking to the class, leaving everyone to chat amongst themselves until the first bell for the day.

“Olivia are you… Uh, okay?” Robin offered her a hand to help pull the girl back up into her seat. After nodding somewhat reassuringly, she began to play with a long braided strand of her amaranth hair.

“Y-yeah… Just, uh… A lot of p-people are around, is all…” Her soft voice trailed off, managing a small nervous smile amongst the white woollen threads of her scarf. Jay cast a curious gaze over to Olivia, nudging Robin as he attempted to speak to the girl.

“Hey, Olivia, just wanted to introduce myself. I’m Robin’s brother, Jay,” He made a good attempt at being as friendly and unintimidating as possible, managing not to make Olivia tremble in fear or run out of the room crying. Robin gave him a nod, turning to give Olivia an encouraging smile. She had the expression of a wary bunny rabbit. “I know my sister can be a bit of a handful, but it’s good to see that she’s managed to make such a nice friend on the first day.” Olivia went red at the subtle compliment, ducking her head and nodding in response.

“O-oh, I didn’t d-do much, really, I-I just kinda stood there and b-babbled awkwardly until R-Robin asked me to be her f-friend out of p-pity.” Olivia stumbled over her words like she had the day before, provoking a smile of empathy from Jay. Robin just sighed and chuckled, putting a hand on her shoulder which caused the Feroxi to jump.

“Hey, don’t say that. I made friends with you because you’re a nice gal… And because we’re both as hopelessly awkward as eachother.” Her shy gaze peaked out from her pink locks, slightly obscuring her small upturned lips. Robin returned the smile, then looked up at the sound of the school bell. Everyone began to gather their things and exit the room among the commotion, heading to the day’s first lesson. The three did the same, Jay turning to the two girls with a grin.

“You two, meet me outside the canteen at the start of lunch! I’m gonna introduce you to my friends.” They both froze as they watched the cheerful boy wave and vanish outside the classroom door. Robin’s mind began whirring at the invitation. Jay invited Robin to hang out with his friends. Chrom is one of Jay’s friends. Therefore, Robin will spend the entire lunchtime in a closer proximity to Chrom. She turned to Olivia with a big smile, her eyes sparkling at the thought. Olivia, on the other hand, looked deathly pale at the prospect of having to spend an hour with people she didn’t know. They stared at eachother until a silent verdict was reached.

“…M-meet you in front of the canteen then.” Olivia sighed in resignation, though still managed to proffer a slight smile as the two walked out of the room. Robin turned to her with the patented Finch grin, nodding as she began to walk in the direction to her class.

“Yep! See you then!” Olivia gave her a weak wave and pulled up her bright pink sticker-plastered backpack, turning around the corner. Robin began a little skip down the empty corridor, her heart sparking in joy at the prospect of spending time with her crush. Then stopped in her tracks. A heavy breath escaped her pale lips, slumping up to look at the ceiling in her realisation.

“Crap. That means I’ll have to actually speak to him.”

* * *

The first few lessons of the day went by uneventfully, Robin being stuck with nothing but unfamiliar faces throughout all of them. As a result she’d kept her head down, not paying much attention as the teachers prattled on about their courses for the year; instead she thought about how she was going to approach Chrom to ask about the school newspaper. She figured she could wing it, sure, but that never ended well for her. Without at least some semblance of forward planning she was likely to be reduced to a puddle of broken syllables, scaring him away without even so much a mention of the school paper. However, the lessons came and went until lunchtime arrived, and she still had no idea how to speak to him.

“How are you even more n-nervous than me about this?” Olivia stood next to Robin who was preoccupied with banging her head against the wall of the canteen. She groaned, turning to lean her back against it and rubbing the red area of her forehead.

“Because!” Robin groaned, tiredly gesturing with her arms to explain the situation. Olivia looked on with a blank expression. “There’s a guy I like – Chrom, that cute head boy? – who’s gonna be here this lunchtime because he’s like besties with my brother or something. Normally that’d be great since it gives me an opportunity to stare at him without his knowledge – which, by the way, is actually way easier than it sounds - but because I need someone of authority to give me a chance to get the school newspaper up and running I need to actually _speak_ to him! I told you about the whole newspaper thing right? Oh, whatever, I’ll tell you later. _Anyway_ , this is a problem because whenever I even try to _think_ about communicating with him my throat clenches up and it makes my knees go all wobbly and my face starts getting really hot and I have no idea how to do this.” Robin took a deep breath, gasping for air as she finished her long and heated ramble. Olivia stared at her and blinked slowly.

“So… You’re having trouble speaking with your crush?” She said simply. Robin looked up at her, the rest of her face the same shade of red as her forehead.

“…Yes.” Olivia covered her mouth to stop herself from giggling, making Robin feel slightly less self-conscious about her whole situation. She found herself having difficulty trying to keep in her own laughter at the whole silliness of the situation.

“Well, I don’t really blame you… I’d have no idea how to speak to a guy I had a crush on,” Olivia leaned against the wall next to her, looking up at the soft clouds that drifted lazily along on the autumn breeze. “Plus, Chrom _is_ pretty dreamy,” Robin nodded fervently in agreement. “But… I mean, you’re just asking about school stuff, right? So it’s no big deal. It’s not like you’re asking him about personal things or anything.” They locked glances, Olivia’s soft eyes and gentle smile comforted Robin slightly. If a shy mess like Olivia thinks there’s no reason to get embarrassed, then there really is nothing to get embarrassed about. Robin steeled her resolve.

“You’re right. I just need to keep it strictly professional.” She gave Olivia a grin, which she returned with another short giggle. They then turned to hear the voice of Jay coming across the cobblestone path towards them, the usual smile plastered to his pale face.

“Hey, c’mon! We’re sat on the bleachers by the track field today. Everyone’s waiting to meet you two,” He beckoned them towards him. The girls looked at eachother, shared confident nods, and followed after Jay on the walk to the field. “Pretty much all of us are here today since there’s no clubs on Tuesday lunchtimes,” Jay explained, taking a leisurely pace and walking next to Robin. “Which means you-know-who is there.” He gave his sister a mischievous wink, causing her to roll her eyes.

“I guessed as much. After all, I’ve gotta ask him about the newspaper, right?” Jay nodded, one side of his mouth still upturned slyly. It barely took them a minute to get to the track field; a lot of students had taken seats on different sides of the bleachers, all in little groups and talking boisterously among themselves. Jay’s group, Robin noted, were sat right in the middle of the giant green plastic rows of seats. The field itself was mostly cleared into a giant rectangular patch of dirt, multiple white lines running across it to establish running lanes. On one side of the field and bleachers was a concrete building which, she assumed, housed all the changing rooms. Upon approach a few people waiting for them began to wave.

“Ohhhh! So these are the new two, huh?” A short girl with blonde pigtails ran down to the front of the bleachers to the three. She was very bouncy and wore some light yellow dainty clothes, her soft green eyes brimming with excitement as she looked between Robin and Olivia. “Ahh! It’s so nice to meet you! It’s not often we get new transfers, so I hope we can be friends!” The girl’s grin widened until it looked like it may split her face, jumping up to give them both big hugs. Olivia squeaked at the contact, while Robin just blinked in surprise as the blonde grabbed both their hands and began hauling them up to their spot on the bleachers.

“That bundle of joy’s named Lissa, by the way,” Jay added, walking up after them. He stepped a little closer and whispered over Robin’s shoulder. “She’s Chrom’s sister.” Robin glanced over at him, turning back to Lissa with renewed curiosity. Before she could contemplate this newfound revelation, they had reached the rest of the group. Robin actually recognised a few of the faces: Gaius – who winked at her at their arrival – was sat next to Chrom, who was in a lively conversation with Vaike - which she noted still had a bandage wrapped around his forehead.  Amongst them she also noticed the short tempered pixie cut, apparent head girl from yesterday and, more surprisingly, Stahl. Upon catching her surprised eye line, the olive haired boy snapped his half-awake eyelids open and waved energetically at her. Robin managed a small wave back, attracting a raised eyebrow from her brother.

“Well! Here we are!” Lissa chimed, wedging herself between the two newbies and the rest of the group. She turned to everyone and gestured animatedly between Olivia and Robin. “This is Olivia, the new girl from Ferox, aaaand this is Robin, Jay’s sister!” Everyone turned to look at them and Robin could feel Olivia cringe instinctively next to her. Bar herself, Olivia, Lissa and Jay, Robin counted ten people. Other than those she recognised, she picked out a very well built brown haired boy – who was wearing a dress shirt complete with tie, vest and extremely serious expression – a boy sat next to him with surprisingly long blue hair, along with a brunette who sat in between the two redheads and, finally, a very well-dressed girl with blonde curls, who Olivia seemed to recognise judging by her timid smile. Everyone gave them a simultaneous and warm ‘welcome’, then returned back to their previous conversations.

“You know her?” Robin turned to Olivia, gesturing to the blonde dressed in pink frills and lace. She nodded, pulling at her scarf.

“Y-yeah, she’s the head of the Crochet Club I joined yesterday. I think her name was Maribelle…?” Robin made an understanding ‘oh’ in response, turning back to look at the girl. She definitely seemed the type to enjoy needlework, judging by her very finely crafted attire. Lissa kept her gaze on the two, lighting up and beginning to lean back and forth on her laced brown boots.

“Yup! Hang on, lemme introduce everyone,” She started to scramble over the seats towards the first row of girls. “This is Sully, Sumia and Cordelia,” Lissa pointed to the three in kind – the pixie cut, brunette and head girl. They all turned to smile, Sully ruffling up Lissa’s pigtails after her slapdash introductions. The blonde stuck her tongue out then laughed, climbing up over the next two rows. “This is Freddy!” She leaned her arms on top of the brown haired boy who grumbled at the contact.

“Frederick, beg your pardons ladies.” He nodded at Robin and Olivia, his eye twitching at Lissa’s shenanigans. She ignored him then went to gesture to the blue haired boy, who swept his eyes over the two girls and winked at them both in turn.

“This i-“

“Virion, and I am truly blessed with the presence of two precious doves as beauteous as you.” His accent punctuated the ‘r’s, and out of nowhere he seemingly produced a red rose. Everyone seated rolled their eyes, except Olivia and Robin who fought back the redness rising in their faces. Lissa then immediately made her way to the in-between row, patting the heads of the guys as she named them off.

“And this is Stahl, Gaius, Vaike-“

“That’s ‘Teach’ to you, little missy!”

“That’s what you’re going by now? Lemme guess, you ‘teach’ people how to make horses angry?” Vaike grumbled to himself, rubbing the bandage strapped to his forehead. A row down, Sully gave him a threatening glare which the musclebound boy instantly shrunk away from. As everyone laughed at the exchange, Lissa wrapped her arms around the neck of the blue haired boy. “And this is Chrom! Head boy and my awesome older brother!” Chrom smiled sheepishly at the praise, patting her head and turning to look at the two. Both Olivia and Jay turned to look at Robin, finding her face had already gone a light shade of pink under his gaze.

“You two’re joining our group now, huh? It’s always nice getting new friends, as Lissa says.” His deep voice and throaty chuckle was enough to make Robin swoon then and there, though she managed to hold herself together in the sight of so many people. After all, it was a bit early to go alienating herself from everyone. Jay put his arm around her.

“Actually, Chrom, my sister had something she wanted to talk to you about.” She could hear the sing-song playfulness in her brother’s voice, inwardly cursing as she caught the stifled laughs from Olivia and Gaius. Chrom perked up, looking directly into Robin’s eyes expectantly.

“Oh? What’s up, Robin?” By now she heard the conversations quieten and felt everyone turning to watch the exchange, catching a particularly intense stare from the head girl, Cordelia. Robin gulped, taking a quick glance at Jay, then Stahl – who, despite having seemed ready to fall asleep when they arrived, was now very awake – and finally fixed it on Chrom, forming a very tight and awkward smile.

“U-uh, well,” She started slowly, clearing her throat. She suddenly felt very thirsty. “…I-It’s actually about the school newspaper!” Robin managed to spit it out, noting that most of the onlookers – except Stahl – seemed to lose interest at her utterance, instead beginning to make casual conversation once more. She felt herself relax a little. Chrom looked on thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. “Er, I noticed that it’s been cancelled for this year, and was hoping that… Well, if you wouldn’t mind… Um, I could try and bring it back…?” Robin’s sentence ended on a high pitched squeak, causing Gaius to have to bite his lip to keep from laughing. Stahl, meanwhile, had broken out into a smile – looking to Chrom in a mix of expectancy and hopefulness.

“The newspaper, huh?” Chrom repeated, frowning in thought. “While it’s true that it definitely went downhill last year, Anna isn’t here anymore, so… If we did indeed let someone else run it…” He clapped his hands together, giving Robin a genuinely dashing smile that made her heart melt. “Yeah, I don’t see why not! To start the year off though we’d need an issue by the end of next week.” Robin grinned despite herself, giddy in her joy and the sheer amount of weight lifted from her shoulders at the news.

“O-of course! I’ll get on it right away!” Jay’s arm around her shoulder managed to steady Robin in her excitement, her knees almost buckling at the relief. Chrom nodded, giving her a thumbs up – which was kind of dorky, admittedly – and a wink which made her face hot once again.

“Sounds good! I’ll check on you through the week then. I don’t want you working yourself to death, especially with the responsibility the newspaper carries.” At that, he returned to speak with Gaius, who was still having to bite his lip to stop himself from commenting on the situation. Robin let out a huge sigh, practically falling back into her brother’s arms who then had to prop her back up.

“See? What’d I tell you. Complete push over,” Jay chuckled, ruffling her hair lightly. Robin breathlessly imitated him. “Congrats, new head editor!” Olivia also supplied an encouraging smile, before copying the thumbs up Chrom had given her, just managing to stop herself from giggling.

“Heh, yeah… I guess I really am now, huh?” Their conversation was interrupted by the school bell, the sound of which even managed to drift over to the open field. Everyone started standing up and grabbing their bags, beginning to make their way down from the plastic bleachers as the field began to empty. Olivia gave her a small smile and a wave as she started walking off.

“I’ve got drama now, so I’ll s-speak to you tomorrow!” She nodded in response, watching the pink haired girl descend down the steps. Naga knows how she’d manage a subject like that with such a shy disposition. Jay nudged her as well to signal he was about to start walking.

“You coming?” She smiled and followed after him, strolling alongside her brother as they made their way to the cobblestone path. “I’ve gotta be off to chemistry, so I’ll see you at the front gate, okay?” Jay walked off in the opposite direction she started in, waving and smiling like an idiot as he went. Robin snickered to herself and began the trek to English. A familiar figure soon caught up and fell in next to her.

“Mission success then?” Stahl smiled pleasantly, the same happy sparkle in his eyes that she saw yesterday. She put one hand on her hip and saluted with the other, mindful that nobody else was near them to see her silly antics.

“Phase one, complete!” Robin chimed, causing Stahl to chuckle. “…Though phase two’s gonna be the hardest part. Especially considering that it’s just you and me on the newspaper team right now.” She deflated slightly, running a hand through her hair and dropping her smile into a thoughtful frown. Stahl just shrugged casually, his smile unchanging.

“Nah, it’ll be fine. Since it’s the first week back it’s gonna be easy to fill up the pages. All we gotta do is grab the club rosters, interview the new heads of the sports teams and bam! Easy first issue!” He executed a right-cross to the air to punctuate his exclamation, reassuring her slightly as well as making her laugh.

“I guess that’s true. And we could always get Vaike and Sully to help out by telling us in detail about the horse incident.” Stahl nodded at that, rubbing his chin.

“That’d make a good front cover. Nothing gets readers’ blood pumping like some horsin’ around.” The two locked eyes and had to cover their mouths to stop from disturbing the classrooms they were walking past.

“That was terrible! …It’ll make a great headline.” Stahl grinned cheekily, messing his olive bedhead up even more with his hand.

“What can I say? When it comes to awful, groan-inducing phrases I’m your _mane_ man.” This time Robin couldn’t stop herself in time and ended up snorting in laughter which, in turn, made him laugh as well. After a few moments of hysterical, silent flailing they managed to calm themselves down and both came to a stop in front of the same English classroom. Robin blinked and looked up at him.

“Are you in Mrs. Phila’s English class too?” Stahl nodded. Robin looked around, suddenly painfully aware that everyone had already gone in. “…Well I, uh, guess we better. Um. Go in then.”

“Right.” They both stared silently at the door.

“…You should go in first.” Stahl looked at her with lazily raised eyebrows, then flashed her a small smile.

“Whatever you say, Miss Head Editor.” He stepped forward and cautiously opened the classroom door, Robin following in after him. The whole class was already seated and stared at them, the teacher included. The young yet white haired woman cleared her throat, fixing them both with a stern gaze.

“Good to see we finally have everyone in attendance. Here, there’s two free seats at the front,” The teacher gestured to the corresponding empty seats, which the two quickly made their way to with their heads down. “And since you both seem to have a level of disregard for punctuality, I’m sure you won’t mind staying behind after class to make up for the time you missed.” Whispers broke out behind them, making Robin’s ears turn red in embarrassment.

“Yes Mrs Phila.” The two echoed.

“Good. Now, as I was _saying_ …” As she continued her lecture, Stahl and Robin locked glances once more. He passed her a note. Robin glanced down at the mess of badly scratched out lines that made up Stahl’s handwriting.

‘ _Man, what a **neigh** -sayer.’ _Robin leaned forward to cover her mouth with her hand, the corners of her lips twitching as Mrs. Phila continued talking about the appropriate techniques to use when writing a script. When she was busy looking at the chalk board Robin pulled out a pen and began to write her own note which she passed back to Stahl.

_‘Talk about being in a **foal** mood.’ _ As his eyes finished darting over the scrap, he quickly bit his lip and raised his hand to cover his mouth the same as she had. They both caught eachother’s eye and exchanged very restrained smiles. The class continued like this for the rest of the hour, ending in a pile of notes covered in horse puns and Stahl almost falling asleep in Mrs. Phila’s lecture on punctuality at the end of the lesson.

All in all, Robin decided, it was a very good day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, this chapter's a bit slow since it's still just setting everything up. As of the next one things should start to pick up a little ;o   
> Also I feel that it's important to note that the thing I spent the most time on in this was the horse puns.
> 
> Thanks again for reading, comments and critiques are much appreciated!


	3. Headline and Deadline

The heavy cloud cover that hung overhead made the school a lot colder than it had been in previous days, causing most of the local inhabitants to pile on a myriad of thick jackets and fleeced coats. Robin, who had her warm duffle coat stolen that morning by her brother, was having trouble pushing in some pins to the cork bulletin board while her hands shook like the falling leaves around them. The stubborn red topped push-pin thwarted her yet again, mocking her spindly arms with its half-exposed posterior.

“To be fair, it probably wasn’t a great idea to, um… Wear a sleeveless top.” Olivia stood next to her, oversized pink windbreaker zipped right up to the bottom of her chin. Her usual woollen scarf spilled out over the collar, causing a striking level of similarity with a large marshmallow s’more (as Gaius had pointed out that morning). Robin sniffed, wiping her reddening nose with her now sore fingers.

“It’s a matter of principle,” She rubbed her hands together, this time using both her thumbs to try and defeat her plastic foe. “Jay took my coat, so now he has to see me suffer as penance. It’s a neat little trick called ‘emotional blackmail’.” Olivia watched on in half-hearted despair as Robin shrieked in pain, putting her thumb in her mouth after pulling back the seam of its nail. Sighing, she moved in next to her, easily managing to sink the rest of the pinhead in even with her bony Feroxi fingers.

Two days had passed since Chrom agreed to let the paper run. The rest of the week had comprised of Robin and Stahl running around and conducting countless interviews, as well as obtaining the rosters of the seemingly endless array of clubs that the school housed. It had gone well enough, Robin supposed, but they still had quite a few things to do. One of which was getting people to write into the ‘Old Hubba’ column. To remedy this, Sully suggested making a poster and putting it on the bulletin board. After asking around the group they found a semi-willing victim – Frederick, who only agreed after Chrom asked him nicely – to design and create the poster they displayed. It was actually surprisingly well drawn: it depicted the stern looking face of Chrom, pointing out at the reader and saying ‘We Need You! …To write in to our newspaper!’ Originally he suggested drawing the boy wonder naked, save a pen in one hand and paper in the other, but Stahl managed to talk him down after Robin lost all her capacity to speak.

Taking a step back and closing the cover of the bulletin board, Robin looked on at their poster proudly. She managed to find a free spot smack-bang between recruitment requests for the Boxing Club and some announcement about the Ylissean Winter Sports.

“So did you manage to take those pictures after?” Turning to face Robin, Olivia pulled a few pink strands out of her face and fixed the camera hung around her neck with an intrigued expression. Returning her glance with a curt nod, the pale and shaking fingers fished out a small white envelope from the pockets of Robin’s faded jeans.

“Yup! A whole bunch. I’m hoping that it’ll save on room for our spread.” Robin puffed out her chest proudly, caressing the covered lens of the device that rested on her abdomen and handing the pictures over to her friend. Olivia pulled out the pile of glossy photographs from the envelope, shuffling through them with a completely unreadable expression.

“Um… Why is this one at an angle?”

“Artistic expression. Also my hand slipped.”

“And the light’s all… Weird here.”

“Oh, yeah, I didn’t know how to work the exposure so I just kinda left it,” A sound similar in composition to a constipated squirrel escaped from Olivia’s chapped lips. She looked to meet Robin’s hopeful gaze with a slight cringe, tapping a pink nail on the pile. The two stared at eachother in unsettling silence. “…They’re not very good, are they?” Robin finally gathered after a few moments of Olivia’s uncomfortable smile.

“No. Not really,” Robin groaned, smacking her head on the glass screen in front of the board. “A-and you really need to stop hitting your head on things. You may get brain damage…?” Robin pulled herself back from the hard surface and shrugged overdramatically, arms held out in a show of exasperation.

“Argh, what else can I do? I can’t very well go back to Stahl, shove a camera in his hands and say ‘Hey, I know you’re busy writing all those articles and transcribing all those interviews like I told you to do, but as it turns out, I suck at taking pictures. So can you do it?’” Ducking her head, Olivia suddenly found an extreme interest in her pink Mary Janes. “Everybody else is all busy off doing their own clubs, as it is nobody even cares about the paper!” The shame was beginning to become apparent as Robin took back the photos, frowning sadly as she instantly noted all the terrible mistakes she’d made. Olivia fiddled with the cuff of her sleeve, risking a short glimpse at her friend’s face.

“W-well, maybe um… I-I could… S-since I only have o-one club, I suppose I’d b-be able to…” Her voice cracked on the last word, trailing off as she felt Robin’s sharp golden eyes boring into her face. “…A-after all, you’re my f-friend and it’d… U-uh, be fun to be in the s-same club as you…?” Half of Robin felt irrationally guilty for momentarily reducing Olivia back to her shy default.

“Ah… It’s okay, Olivia, you really don’t have to. This is my own mess, it’s not your fault I’m bad at taking photos.” She reassured her, putting the envelope back in her pocket and reaching a hand to pat her head.

“N-no! I mean it!” Olivia’s face suddenly became a mask of determination. Fighting back a flinch, Robin pulled away her hand in surprise at the girl’s sudden turn. “My Aunt Flavia always took me to help take pictures of the tundra in winter! I know my way around a camera!” Her brows creased and took on an uncharacteristically fearsome definition. Robin blinked, unable to conceal a goofy grin at this new side she was seeing.

“Well… I can’t argue with that! Anything to get this mocking contraption away from me,” She reached back to pull the strap up from around her neck, handing it to Olivia. After sharing a curt nod, Olivia took it from her hands and placed it around her own head. It suited her surprisingly well, even with the giant plastic coat. “Alright then! Welcome to the Newspaper Club, head photographer!” A humble grin broke out across the pink haired girl’s cheeks. “I’ll be needing those pictures by Monday, alright?” Olivia nodded enthusiastically.

“You can count on me!”

And, as it turned out, she could. That evening as Robin sat on her new bunny pasted bed sheets, finally turning on her phone, she received numerous texts from her pink haired friend about her photographing exploits. ‘ _Omg, have you been to the park recently?? I found a bunch of baby squirrels on a pile of leaves! ^w^ I took, like, 8 pictures of them!!! So cuuuuute >//w//<’ _Robin held back a guffaw as she read over it, shaking her head and tapping out a reply on the smooth touchscreen surface of her phone. Though she stopped in her tracks as the other messages detailing her escapade started flooding in. During the span of about four hours, Olivia’s adventures devolved from taking pictures of cute forest animals and crying to multiple counts of being a potential victim of manslaughter. Apparently sensing her constrained laughter with his brotherly senses, Jay appeared in her doorway.

“Hey lil’ sis, how you doin’?” He leaned on the doorframe, a towel around his neck and his silvery hair wet and matted to his forehead. He appeared to be cleaning his glasses with the end of his damp towel. “Ooh, who you texting?” Noting Robin’s face that had currently been scrunched up in silent giggling, he slinked around to her side to get a peek at her phone’s screen. Robin was too busy holding back hysterics to care. “ _Eep, when I was taking pictures of some of the campus grounds I found a momma bird looking after her baby that’d strained a wing. A load of people walked by and saw me crying! Now I can never go outside again.”_ He read aloud after fixing his glasses back on the bridge of his nose. “What does that face with the squiggly lines mean?”

“I th-think it’s supposed to be an u-upset kitty face.” Her voice squeaked, coming out unusually disjointed from behind the fingers that covered her mouth. A few tears began streaming down from the sides of her eyes after scrolling down to another text about how Olivia almost got ran over by a cyclist after playing with a bunch of raccoons. Jay’s grin twitched as he held back his own torrent of laughs, leaning his chin on Robin’s shoulder.

“What is she, a Disney princess? How can someone manage to find all these wild baby animals _and_ almost get killed by fun runners in direct succession?” His voice cracked and he finally lost it when he saw the message about her dealings with a troupe of street performers who almost accidentally murdered her with a particularly sharp pair of stilts. The siblings fell about themselves on the cotton duvet, holding their sides in uproarious laughter as they struggled to hold back their hysterics. Naturally, they failed. The two instead spent the rest of the evening reading over the texts and discussing what manner of witch doctor Olivia had pissed off to get this kind of treatment. _‘Actually, I don’t think I’ll be able to make it in tomorrow ;3; I still have a bunch of bruises from being trampled by those guys in mascot costumes. I promise I’ll get those pictures to you on Monday though!!! Have a good night!! :3’_

* * *

It was now Monday lunchtime. The previous chill from the week before had lessened a bit, but still merited more than a short sleeve t-shirt emblazoned with cat puns - a lesson Robin learned the hard way. Sitting behind the desk in the newspaper office, Robin spilled out the pack of photos Olivia had entrusted with her that morning. Stahl, who had to share her desk as the room seemed to lack any other kind of passable workspace (save for the cupboard but he refused to go in there), looked over from his chocolate muffin to the large pile of nature shots.

“So Olivia took these?” A stray brown crumb ricocheted from his mouth, landing on a picture encapsulating a very bemused looking raccoon. Robin nodded, ignoring the projectile snack and instead focusing on clearing a spot on the desk.

“Yep.  She’s given us plenty of choice. She even somehow managed to take a few pictures of the horses from the Equestrian Club.” The beasts hadn’t been allowed to roam the school for the past week, allowing them to get more used to their surroundings. Or stopping them from starting another riot at the hands of a certain musclebound idiot. Stahl nodded lazily, struggling to keep his eyes open after devouring the last morsel of his muffin. Robin assumed it was from how she kept him from falling asleep in their English sessions earlier that morning.

“Well I managed to write and print out that article you wanted, along with all the interviews. So if you’ve got the schedules and pictures done then we’re pretty much finished!” He gave her a cheerful grin, leaning his arms on the table and resting his head between them. His messy locks fell over his eyes as he began to close them. Raising her eyebrows and resisting the urge to shove him back to attention, Robin pulled out a couple of A4 sheets of paper from a drawer and snorted.

“Yeah, right!” She scoffed, causing Stahl to reopen one of his mossy eyes. “We still need to sort out all the formatting, come up with a masthead for the paper _and_ design a good motif for said masthead.” Robin started organising all the printed out articles, grabbing a pair of scissors and cutting bits out. After carving a few sections of paper out, she began to place the parts of articles on the sheets of A4. The boy blew a strand of hair out of his eye line.

“We’re doing this old-school? No setting it out on the computer or anything?” His voice rang out calmly, betraying no sign of surprise if he felt it. She turned and gave him a confident smirk, self-assured conviction glimmering in her golden eyes.

“Mmhm. We’ll just cut and stick all the bits down on this master-copy and let Chrom photocopy it for everyone else. It looks neater this way,” Stahl sat up, unable to supress a yawn as he stretched out his arms. “Plus, everyone likes the vintage aesthetic.” He laughed at that, running a hand through his unkempt hair.

“Can’t argue with that. Which page are we gonna put the Old Hubba column on?”

“I’m thinking page three. The article about the horses along with the interviews we got from Vaike and Sully are gonna take up quite a bit of room,” Stahl got another pair of scissors and began assisting her, wiping away the pile of crumbled muffin bits onto the floor. While sorting out the snippets, Robin quickly glanced over the parts Stahl had written. She hadn’t had time for proof-reading as she herself had to list all the club members and their respective groups, just blindly trusting the boy’s own writing skills. Reading a particularly lengthy segment of his typed up work, she chuckled slightly. “This is a really nice style. Not too jokey, not too serious – just the right balance.” Stahl looked up from organising one pile of pictures, regarding her with an indecipherable expression.

“Luckily, just like myself, my writing’s pretty average. I’m not too great at creating interesting stories or pouring my soul into poetry or anything, but it’s because my style doesn’t stand out much that it works well in an article.” The faint freckles on his nose scrunched up as he made a lopsided smile, leaning one side of his face on a hand. Robin nodded in agreement, placing the cut-out on the second page of paper. They worked in comfortable silence, save for the odd discussion on what pictures to use and deciding on their captions. Towards the end of their lunch break they’d managed to find a place to fill up all of the sheets of paper bar one – the front page, left blank save for a large picture of Sully’s murder horse, the _‘Horsing Around’_ headline and a brief excerpt from Stahl’s article. Robin leaned back in her chair, resting her head on its wooden back.

“Right, now all that’s left is to decide on a name and design!” She declared. Stahl slumped in his own chair at her announcement, breathing out a big yawn. Robin had to cover her own mouth to stop herself from copying him. “I say we can sort the rest out tomorrow. We did a damn good job.” Stahl wiped a yawn-induced tear from the crinkle of one of his eyes, beaming at her through his tired haze.

“Heck yeah we did.” He raised his hand in offer of a celebratory high-five, which Robin took him up on. Just as she was about to rise from her seat, a polite knock sounded from the half open door. Robin looked up to see a certain blue-haired god stood in their doorway. She quickly returned to her sitting position like nothing had happened.

“Hey, just coming in to check on your progress. You guys doing okay?” Chrom sauntered over to the desk the two shared, seemingly oblivious to the growing redness on the head editor’s face.

“Yup! Almost finished with our first issue. We’ll definitely have it done by Friday.” Stahl answered for her, sitting up in his chair and casting a wayward glance at Robin’s pink hued cheeks. Her face was frozen in a very unnatural smile.

“That’s great news! I knew I could count on you guys,” Chrom’s eyes sparkled in the dampened sunlight that leaked in through the window behind the desk. His azure irises rippled like the surface of an untapped lake, punctuated by the occasional pinprick of white. It was all Robin could do to stop herself from sighing openly. “What’ve you got left to do?” Passing her another lingering glance, Stahl realised that in her current state there was no hope at getting a response out of the entranced silver haired girl next to him.

“Oh, just to think up a title for the paper and pick a design for it. Nothing big.” Stahl shrugged candidly, leaning back in his chair and fixing Chrom a cool expression. The boy in blue nodded with a confident grin, beginning to make his way back out the door.

“Alright then! Good luck to you guys. I’ll be back on Friday to pick up what you’ve got.” His deep voice echoed out in the empty room, exiting out the same half-open door he came in. Stahl gave him a small wave as he went.

“S-see you then!” Robin squeaked just as Chrom shut the door behind him. She swore she heard the sound of a choked snicker from a Stahl-ward direction. Robin turned to face the boy who had taken a sudden interest in the wood grain of the desk, leaning one elbow on it and covering his mouth partially with a hand.

“So-“

“Shut up.” She interrupted him with a grumble before he could comment, face getting redder, and grabbing an unused blank piece of paper. He sat up, blinking away his amused expression as Robin took a pen and began sketching across the stark medium.

“What’re you doing? Didn’t you say we were done for the day?” Robin ignored his mellow drawl, drawing more furiously. She leaned low to the paper and put one arm protectively around it, stopping Stahl from gleaning her work. Regardless, he tried. He moved the position of his head around the table until ultimately resorting to poking her side until she was done. She smacked his hand away and held up the paper, squinting at it. Stahl leaned next to her to look.

Scrawled messily across the middle of the sheet was a really badly stylised version of the title _‘Ylisse Post’_. The edges of some of the letters were sharp in some places and rounded in others, the two ‘s’ side by side looking like completely different characters. She’d also somehow managed to make them all disparate sizes, resulting in a lower-case ‘l’ at least twice the size of the capital ‘p’. The two stared silently at her mess-terpiece.

“…Maybe we should try on the computer.”

“Yes good idea Stahl.” The two scrambled to pull the monitor they’d shoved at the back of the desk back to the front, rummaging through a few drawers until finding a mouse that looked like it hadn’t been used since the latter half of the 1990s. They impatiently waited for the computer to boot up and quickly located Microsoft Publisher, Robin apprehending the mouse from Stahl’s loose grip. He watched intensely as she dragged and dropped a text box on the empty screen.

“…Robin is that word art.”

“Yes, I really like the wiggly rainbow one.” Stahl cringed but said nothing. Robin stuck out her lips in concentration, fishing through the various tabs until she found what she was looking for. Stahl piped up again after he realised what she was doing.

“You’re not gonna use clipart too, are you?”

“Already done. See, this bear has hilarious cartoon googly eyes.”

“…But it still has a white outline.”

“Pfft nobody’s gonna notice.” Everyone would notice. She placed the bear right in the middle of the two garishly coloured words, sitting back proudly and crossing her arms. Stahl bit his lip, a small surge of panic flashing across his normally relaxed face.

“…Maybe if we just…” He reached out for the mouse. Robin glared at him but didn’t move, watching as he leaned over her – a bit too close for her comfort – and blocked her view of the screen. A faint waft of cinnamon hit her nostrils at his movement. She heard the sound of furious clicking and dragging, so began trying to move around him to get a view of the monitor. “There! Much better.” Stahl chirped, dropping back into his seat to give her a sheepish and slightly relieved grin. Robin turned to see his handiwork and scowled. He had completely covered what she’d done in drag-and-drop star shapes. She looked to him and they both shared an Intense Moment.

* * *

“How are we both so bad at this?!” Robin despaired, sat next to Stahl on the green plastic chairs that covered the bleachers, a sketchbook resting on her lap. It was now Wednesday, and the two had yet to come up with a passable design for the newspaper’s masthead. Stahl shrugged exaggeratedly, leaning his arms on the rear of the seat in front and looking back at her with a perplexed grimace. The vast majority of their friends were in clubs this lunchtime, so only her, Stahl, Lissa, and Sumia were present in their usual spot. Below on the track field were a large semblance of people running laps, including Chrom, Frederick and Sully. Olivia and Maribelle had run off to Crochet Club while her brother and Virion were in Chess Club. Naga knows where Gaius had gotten to.

Stahl fiddled with a stray piece of fluff on the arm of his black turtleneck, a look that suited him surprisingly well. Behind them Robin could hear the animated tittering of the two girls, distracting her from their current predicament. As it happened, neither Jay nor Olivia were any good at graphic design so offered absolutely no help. They considered asking Fred again, but after another trial run they found out that he was actually only good at drawing Chrom, a skill the pair were too scared to question.

“Right, instead of focusing on the actual design, how about we try to think up a new title instead?” Stahl perked up at that, glancing at the sketchbook in thought. He pulled on a flyaway piece of hair.

“How about… _‘Ylisse Yesterday’_? Alliteration’s always a good move.” Robin nodded cautiously, rolling the name around in her head. She pulled her pencil up to her lips and nibbled a bit on the fraying wood.

“It sounds nice and flowy, but… It’s a bit long, isn’t it? And we don’t really want to give our readers the impression that we’re literally giving them yesterday’s news.” One edge of Stahl’s mouth upturned at her subtle pun, drawing his attention back to the Track and Field Team and sitting properly in his seat.

“You got me there. But other than that, what are our options? ‘Ylisse’ with another synonym for ‘Newspaper’ slapped after it.” The two stared out at the track, Robin specifically watching a sweaty Chrom complete his fourth lap. Not that she was counting.

“Hey, whatcha guys doin’?” A shrill warble rang out from in-between them. Robin turned to see the familiarly cheery grin of Lissa, her blonde pigtails rustling slightly in the breeze. She leaned out between the gap in their seats, propping her elbows on the edges and looking between the two Newspaper Club members.

“We’re trying to think of a name for the newspaper,” Robin laughed quietly despite herself, the unbridled enthusiasm of the girl making her smile unintentionally. Lissa’s eyes sparkled, putting an index finger to her lip as she kneeled behind their seats. “It’s not going very well, if you couldn’t tell.” She added. Stahl watched the girl with his usual sleepy smile.

“Hmmmmmmm,” Lissa’s puffed out cheeks vibrated when she hummed, staring at the sketchbook with a fixated stare. “Can I try?” She turned her pleading emerald orbs to Robin, who instantly caved. It’s not like it could possibly end any worse than Robin or Stahl’s attempts.

“Yeah, sure, go ahead.” She passed the pencil and sketchbook to Lissa with a warm smile. The girl took them greedily and jumped back on her chair, pulling her knees up and resting the sketchbook on them. She stuck out her tongue as she drew. Sumia, who had just gotten wrenched out of her conversation with Lissa, turned to Robin and Stahl with wide eyes.

“So you guys are doing the newspaper now…?” The brunette’s voice was chirpy, but not too hard on the ears. She tugged slightly on a stray lock of ash brown hair, leaning forward to replace Lissa between them. Robin nodded. “Th-that means everyone gets to see the stuff you write, yeah? Like, you write an article, put it in the paper, and then everyone gets to see it?” She nodded again, slower this time.

“Yup, that’s generally what happens with newspapers.” Stahl chimed in, now staring at the sky. His stray cowlick bounced on the breeze and it took all Robin had to stop herself from trying to flatten it down against the boy’s head.

“That’s so cool! Do you ever put anything in that isn’t an article?” Sumia bounced up and down a little, an awed grin stretching from ear to ear. Robin returned with a polite smile, unsure how to deal with such an unusually amiable girl.

“Yeah, usually you can. We don’t have any extra columnists at the moment though so there’s not gonna be anything like that for a while probably,” Robin reached a hand up to scratch the back of her neck, glancing over Sumia’s shoulder to where Lissa was still working away. “A lot of papers put in little comics, or sometimes even short stories. It really depends on what fits in with the newspaper’s aesthetic or what the readers like.” Sumia nodded, enthralled. She seemed to get lost in thought for a few moments, but was quickly interrupted by Lissa who thrust the sketchbook back into Robin’s hands.

“Aaaaaand done!” Stahl turned to look with Robin at the design Lissa came up with. The motif she drew was in a very unique style, almost graffiti-esque but far more bubbly. It was very bright, colourful and… Something else… What’s the word…? Robin stared intensely at the piece of paper, trying to think of the perfect term to describe what she was seeing.

“It’s very Lissa-ish.” Stahl declared. Robin snapped her fingers and pointed at him, a crooked grin featured on her face.

“Yeah! Lissa-ish!” She looked back down at the piece. Lissa had even drawn a little cartoon bear that looked way cuter than the one she found on clipart. “ _’Ylisse Now!’_ That the name you came up with?” Lissa swayed on the back of their seats, twirling the pencil in her delicate little fingers. She directed a pink little ‘v’ of a smile at her, looking strikingly like a cat who just got her cream.

“Thought it sounded a lot catchier than the stuff you guys were coming up with. No offense.”

“None taken.” Stahl fired back at her. He’d turned to Robin with that hopeful glimmer in his eyes, his sloppy lopsided grin spilling cheer so openly across his features. She met it with a firm nod.

“Lissa, can we use your design for the paper?” They both turned to the young blonde with expectant gazes.

“Of course!” A huge innocent grin replaced her small smile. “Provided you let me into your club!” The pair didn’t even have to look at eachother to know they both agreed.

“We could definitely use your skills! Man, you could draw all the headlines in this style. It’d look way better than the bland stock font we’ve used.” Lissa’s face lit up even more, though Robin had to question how that was even possible. She looked like a radiant beacon of sunshine in her glee.

"You really mean it?! Awesome!” She fist pumped the air, Sumia having to duck out of the way of being punched. A soft laugh escaped Robin’s lips, passing her back the sketchbook as Lissa started doodling some more of her poppy designs.

* * *

It was now Friday after school, the current Newspaper Club – Robin, Stahl, Olivia and Lissa – all shuffling around Robin’s collection of A4 paper and fervently sticking down all the articles and pictures. Jay watched from the side of the desk, trying hard not to laugh at the blob of PVA glue Olivia had somehow gotten on her nose. Not that the rest of them were faring any better; when Robin wasn’t looking, Lissa stuck an unused picture of a stilt-walker on the butt of her denim skirt. Stahl was the only one who noticed, but he figured it’d be better not to say anything. His hair stuck out in more directions than usual, a small paper cut emerging on the back of his left hand.

“Where’s the picture of Sully’s horse?!”

“A-ah! Right her- oh shoot, I dropped it under the table.”

 _“Oliviaaaa!_ ”

“I’m s-sorry it was just so g-glossy and it s-slipped right o-out of my han-“

“Oh gods I think I lost the Old Hubba col- oh, no, wait, here it is. Why the heck was it up your sleeve, Lissa?”

“Don’t ask me, ask the column why it decided to sneak up my sleeve when I wasn’t looking!”

“I somehow feel like that wouldn’t be a very constructive line of enquiry.”

“Can you guys please interview the inanimate pieces of paper _later?_ Chrom’s going to be here any second!”

“Right!” They all said in unison, finishing sticking the last pieces of pictures on the pages. Jay looked on, peering over the top of his glasses at their creation. The four collapsed back against the wall, breathing separate sighs of relief as they finally finished the first issue of _‘Ylisse Now!’._ Lissa’s masthead tied the front page together perfectly, the green and gold of the school’s colours peaking up cheerfully from the dynamic letters. The little bear that Robin liked so much had been inserted under the headline, looking curiously up at Stahl’s horse pun.

“Wow. You guys really outdid yourselves. This actually looks really good,” Jay leaned over the desk, propping himself up on his two outstretched arms. Robin looked up, one eye barely open, and gave him a weak smile. “You never cease to impress, Miss Head Editor.” Her brother offered her a hand, flashing the Finch grin as he pulled her up. She almost fell into his chest as the exhaustion caught up to her.

“Thanks, Jay.” He patted his sister’s silvery head, winking. Meanwhile on the floor behind them, Lissa had splayed across a collapsed Olivia and Stahl had straight up fallen asleep beside the girls on the carpet. The siblings chuckled at the sight, sharing an eager smile. This was as much as Jay’s dream as her own, Robin reminded herself inwardly. Their cheesy childhood promise blurring in the back of her mind, the image of their crossed pinky fingers and their mirrored obnoxious grins. _“Let’s promise to always make eachother happy! Forever!”_

Robin was pulled out of her daydream by the familiar knock at the door. Jay glanced over his shoulder at his friend, whom he then walked over to greet.

“Yo, Chromulus! They just finished the issue. I told you my sister was as reliable as they came,” He used his bony elbow to nudge the blue haired boy, who returned a sheepish smile. Robin quickly directed her attention to her feet, blush quickly building in her cheeks. She shouldn’t have been surprised to see her brother had been putting in good words for her. “This is definitely a paper you can be proud of.” Chrom walked over to the desk, sparing a breathy chuckle for the three people passed out on the floor. Lissa partially revived at the sound of her brother’s laugh, pulling herself up using the oak desk.

“Looks like you’ve been working hard. The front cover’s amazing, Lissa.” He praised his sister who could only manage a half-hearted nod in return. Robin looked up to see the warm grin Chrom wore and it was enough to make the butterflies in her stomach begin to beat their wings spastically. Olivia slowly peeped her head up from behind the desk next to Lissa, looking from Chrom to Robin.

“Hey, don’t just praise me! We all had a hand in making the newspaper as awesome as possible!” The blonde seemed to regain more of her energy at her brother’s compliment, rushing to Robin’s side and looping her arm with both of her own. Robin turned to look down at her grin, knowing for sure that Lissa could feel the heat emanating off her face. She didn’t say anything, but Robin could’ve sworn she saw her eyebrow raise just the _teensiest_ bit. “Robin’s the one you should really be thanking, without her the paper wouldn’t even be happening!” Robin’s head shot up to meet Chrom’s. Jay noticed the crimson expression of his sister and mouthed ‘ _go get ‘em tiger!_ ’ Robin wasn’t sure whether she should feel encouraged or insulted.

“Ah, Lissa, you’re totally right,” Chrom’s hand trailed to his neck, scratching the pinkish pale skin. The charming smile he’d given to Lissa returned, this time aimed at Robin. She felt her heart skip a beat, along with the sensation of an extra pair of eyes trained on her red face from the direction of the floor behind the desk. “Thank you, Robin. For the good work you’ve done here the past two weeks,” He approached her and she felt Lissa’s arms leave her side. “You’re a valuable asset to our school. I’m proud to call you my friend.” Chrom placed a hand on her shoulder. All her hairs stood on end at his touch, the warm sensation from his fingers oozing through the fabric of her shirt. Robin’s breath hitched in her throat. His eyes burned into her own.

“Th-th-thank you…!” She stuttered, blurting out her syllables in a messy slur. Chrom seemingly hadn’t noticed, removing his hand from her shoulder as if it had never been there.

“I’ll be taking the paper now. Expect to buy a copy around the front gate on Monday, Cordelia and I will be selling them,” He walked over to the desk and gathered the sheets of paper carefully under his arm, trying not to get any of the drying glue on his hands. “Have a good weekend!” He shot everyone a dashing grin before marching out of the door. Everyone echoed his goodbye, waving like a bunch of idiots as their smiles burned through the tired afternoon miasma. Stahl appeared at the shoulder Chrom had touched, waving a hand in front of Robin’s face.

“Hey, Ground Control to Major Robin? Anybody home?” She snapped out of her stupor, blinking away the limerence that clung to her chest.

“Buh?” Lissa broke into laughter at her surprised exclamation.

“ _B-buh_?! What the heck kinda noise is _that?”_ Robin’s face went red again as the room broke into pleasant laughter, Olivia finally emerging from behind the piece of furniture to give Robin an encouraging smile. Stahl mussed up her hair until it resembled his own mop of messy brown locks.

“We should probably get going. They usually lock the gates around four,” Jay pulled up Robin’s bag for her, handing it to her still slightly shaky hands. Around them everyone followed suit, grabbing their belongings. “We do _not_ wanna get locked in here for the entire weekend. I had a nightmare about it once and trust me, it was not pretty.”

“Was that the one where the Headteacher forced you to ride a unicycle?” Robin pulled out the Finch grin, poking the pale cheek of her bemused brother.

“I can’t even ride a _regular_ bike! I’ve no idea what she was thinking!” The group of five all exchanged small chuckles, about to make for the door when they heard violent whispering from behind the two masses of closed mahogany. They all paused, staring at the front of the room. A few moments of silence passed, until one of the doors was wrenched open.

“Hi! Oh good, you’re all still he- _bwaaaah!”_ The moment the brunette collided with the floor everyone instinctively winced. Sumia had landed face down on the rough carpet, limbs splayed out all around her. Cordelia peeped her head around the corner to survey the room, but upon seeing her friend dashed across the floor she could not resist a facepalm. Stahl and Lissa instinctively moved forward to help gather her up from her mess on the carpet.

“You alright, Sumia?” Jay offered from his place next to Robin, watching the girl pat down her slightly ripped tights. Sumia shot him a small thumbs up in return, suddenly standing up straight as if she remembered what she was here for.

“Ahh! I’m sorry to waste all your guys’ time, I know you want to go home…! But I really need to do this now o-or I’ll completely lose all my nerve and on Monday I’ll just… just…” She started babbling in a manner not too dissimilar from one of Olivia’s fits. Cordelia whisked into the room to place a supportive arm around the girl’s shoulder.

“Go on, Sumia.”

“R-right,” She fixed her soft brown eyes to everyone in turn in the room, then pulled out a piece of paper she had stashed away in the back pocket of her shorts. To their surprise, she began reciting a poem.

_“Where are you, gentle breeze?_

_Loyalty, faith, love;_

_The bird; it soars so peacefully_

_Through an endless nocturne sky,_

_I sometimes think,_

_That it might stop,_

_And release a little sigh;_

_For it must travel many miles on dainty, fragile wings,_

_Oh, what joys the comfort of home brings!_

_But please, tell me, whose precious birds are these?”_

Everyone stared in silence, lulled into quiet by Sumia’s gentle voice and hypnotising words. Even Lissa stopped bouncing on the spot to listen. The brunette blinked, beginning to form an awkward grin at everyone’s intent gazes. “So… Can I join the club?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AKA the chapter where Robin is terrible at everything all the time.  
> I had so much fun writing this one you've no idea. The whole exchange between Stahl and Robin when they're trying to make the title caused me such immense joy you've no idea.
> 
> Also I like to imagine terrible stuff just happens to Olivia for absolutely no reason when she goes out on her own. She seems the type who would just attract a whirlwind of mishaps as the universe's way of balancing out her unending sweetness.
> 
> ANYWAY, two new members, the first issue finally being written and a possible fifth member?! O: [dramatic gasp]  
> Yeah things are starting to pick up a bit now if you hadn't noticed. Count on seeing a few new faces pop up soon!
> 
> IN ADDITION, thanks for the support from: logithecat and DuckTator (keep on keepin' on, buddy)
> 
> I'd also like to thank my buddy Gab (who is basically my omnipresent fanfic checker) for providing the little poem Sumia made at the end.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy this part! As per usual, thanks for reading and comments/critiques are much appreciated!


	4. Prose, Crows and a Rose

“Hey, did you guys read the school newspaper this morning?”

“Yeah! That article on the horses was soooo funny!”

“I know? Oh, and that Old Hubba columnist’s advice was spot-on!”

“Maybe you should write in. Perhaps ask them about a certain someo-“

“Sh-shut up! L-like I’d need to ask some anonymous writer for help…!”

Robin stared intensely at the newspaper in her hands, listening to the sound of her classmates chattering behind her. By the time it got to the end of form class, Chrom had come to tell her that they’d already sold out of their first issue. Everyone seemed to genuinely enjoy it judging by the comments of the rest of her English class. Glancing over the paper, she spotted a fully asleep Stahl with his head down on the table and a book on his head. His soft breathing seemed to rustle the pages of the book across his cranium. While she wanted to get him to listen to the nice things everyone was saying, she didn’t have the heart to disturb his well-earned nap.

Drawing her attention back to the issue, she resumed her reading. In the end the one thing Robin hadn’t been able to check over before they gave the copy to Chrom was the Old Hubba article. It was very simple: the dainty written card of some anonymous student (this particular one going with the curious alias ‘ _HamDownStairs’_ ) was displayed on the top half of the page, with the typed out response of the column writer below it.

_‘Dear Old Hubba,_

_Um, I’m writing in to ask about… How to get friends, basically. It’s a new school year and I don’t really know anyone here very well – apart from one person, who I only met the other week! I really like her, but I don’t want her to feel like I’m clinging to her, you know? So… I was wondering if you had any advice for making friends, especially for someone who’s shy and extremely socially awkward? I was thinking that maybe I should try… Acting more upbeat. Or try to be more like the popular girls. I’m sorry if I’m wasting your time, but I’d really appreciate the help!_

_Sincerely, HamDownStairs’_

Robin kicked her feet slightly, fiddling with a strand of her silvery hair. It was a very basic first write-in; sweet but not too deep, detailed but not too incriminating. If everyone really did enjoy this issue that much then that meant there’d be a lot more choice for our dear Old Hubba for this week’s column. Robin bit the back of her pen, considering whether she’d have to lengthen the spread of the column to cover more write-ins.

The rather loud sound of someone clearing their throat rung from directly behind her. Momentarily putting the paper down, she turned to see the familiar curl framed face of Maribelle. Robin hadn’t even realised the aristocratic blonde was in her English class. The girl fixed Robin with her unsettling maroon eyes, a finely pointed eyebrow cocked.

“Dear, I saw the paper this morning. It wasn’t terrible. Of course, my precious Lissa’s drawings managed to distract from the clumsily written parts of the articles – oh, and the oddly worded captions for those pictures. Did you write those? – but I suppose the majority of it was satisfactory,” The sides of Robin’s lips twitched at the… Compliment? Honestly it felt more like she gave her an indirect slap to the face. Maribelle turned her nose up, tapping her manicured nails on the side of her file. “Lissa is, in fact, quite excited about her new club membership… And the little mousy Olivia seems slightly more upbeat than usual too. It would be a shame if something were to happen to the paper, say, at the hands of an incompetent head editor… _Right_?” Maribelle’s porcelain features darkened, taking on the uncanny likeness of a possessed demon doll.

“R-right! G-good thing I’m not, uh… Incompetent, then…?” Robin laughed stiffly, though it seemed to satisfy Maribelle. At least to the point where she didn’t look like she was going to stab her anymore. She studied Robin’s face for a few moments.

“Yes, I suppose so,” She produced, almost cautiously. “Good luck for this week’s issue.” Maribelle straightened up and turned back to her work, acting like she’d never spoken to her. Robin slowly turned back around to her desk and tried very hard to resist looking over her shoulder to see if Maribelle was glaring at her. Shaking her head, Robin returned to the paper to read the rest of the column.

_‘Hey, HamDownStairs!_

_Thanks for writing in and sharing your worries with me. Making friends is very tough, especially if you don’t have any foundation to work off of – moreso if you have difficulty talking to people! Personally, I think it’s best to be yourself. Faking it never works in the long run. Perhaps you should venture outside of your comfort zone: maybe join a new club or go out with your friend’s group, you may find some other people to become friends with! It’s not gonna happen overnight, but if you keep working towards your goal then I’m sure you’ll end up with a bunch of good buddies in no time. Thank you again, and have a nice week!’_

They managed a very friendly tone, that’s for sure. A few good exclamation mark placements was all it took for Old Hubba to seem oddly endearing to the readers. She drew her eyes down to the bottom of the page that explained where people could write in, Lissa’s cartoon post box smiling up at her from the paper. Robin was shook from her thoughts at the entrance of Mrs. Phila, scaring the class into silence. She quickly folded up the paper and tucked it in her bag.

“Good morning, class.”

“Good morning, Mrs. Phila.” The class droned in response, suggesting that it was, in fact, not a good morning. The white haired woman placed a pile of papers on her desk (which Robin instantly recognised as the essays they had written the previous week) and opened her mouth to speak.

“Today we shall be looking ove-“ She paused as a very loud snore escaped Stahl’s open mouth. Robin slowly turned to her desk mate in abject horror, the class falling completely silent. The peacefully sleeping boy had no idea of the hell he was about to wake up to. Mrs. Phila cleared her throat. “…Mr. Castleton?” Her voice rung out sweeter than usual. Stahl only squirmed in his sleep, turning to face Robin with his eyes very much closed. “ _Mr. Castleton!”_ She boomed, picking up the book resting on his head. The class flinched.

“Muh?” Stahl glanced up, half lidded eyes lazily drifting to the teacher. Robin could see the sleepy cogs whirring in his head. “Oh!” He jerked awake, sitting up straight and fixing a very panicked - bordering on hysterical - smile. “M-Miss! Good morning! Uh, did you have a nice weekend?” An awkward laughter spread throughout their classmates, though it only served to hasten the growing dread in the pit of Robin’s stomach. Mrs. Phila looked like she was about to stab Stahl to death with their pile of essays. Stahl’s expression was appropriately one of terror, a single bead of sweat running down the side of his neck. He shot a panicked sideways glance at her. Robin met it, crossing her own eyes with his beseeching ones, and felt her hand shoot up before she really formulated a way around this. _He so owes me._

“Mrs. Phila, Stahl’s just a bit worn out because I was getting him to write the upcoming articles for the newspaper.” The woman’s stern gaze shot to her, an intense scowl crinkling the beauty spot at the side of her eye. Robin gulped. She felt the eyes of everyone in class on her.

“Is that _so_ , Miss Finch?” Robin managed a disjointed nod. “Well then, that would explain how both of your essays were absolutely terrible: a barely finished mess of incoherent thoughts.” She smacked the two pieces of paper down in front of them, giant letter ‘F’s circled in red at the top of the pages. Stahl and Robin exchanged nervous smiles. They’d actually done their essays together in the break before the homework was due in; they were so busy preparing the newspaper that they’d completely forgotten about it. Not that Mrs. Phila needed to know that.

“Er, wel-“ Stahl attempted to interject but the teacher promptly ignored him.

“I’d say this deserves yet _another_ detention for you two. Here. At lunchtime. Wouldn’t you agree, class?” The students mumbled in assent, eyes darting to their empty desks. Robin’s face was hot with embarrassment. “Good. Now, let’s begin.” As their teacher continued her lecture, Robin began slowly sliding down in her chair, wishing that she could phase right through the floor. They were barely past the two week mark and already the teacher seemed to hate her. When he was sure Mrs. Phila wasn’t looking, Stahl leaned over to whisper in her ear.

“Thanks for sticking up for me. I owe you a doughnut.” His breath was warm against her ear, gratitude shining through his quirky little smile.

“For that, you owe me two. The good kind. With jam filling.”

“Haha, as long as you let me have some.” His short chuckle rang out sweetly at her side. Stahl quickly darted back to his nonchalant sitting position as the teacher turned back to face the class. Robin couldn’t help but let one side of her mouth turn up at his thanks, now drawing her attention back to Mrs. Phila.

* * *

Since her disastrous first lesson, the heavens had decided to open up and pelt the school grounds with a seemingly never-ending downpour of torrential rain. Despite only being break time, the dark cloud cover gave the impression that it was much later in the day. Between the night-hued sky and the constant rain, it had become extremely difficult to navigate through the outside world. Yet still, somehow Robin made it to the canteen unscathed. Aside from the dripping wet clothes, that is.

Robin sat on a small round table next to the window overlooking the front of the building, wringing strands of her hair in an attempt to dispel the water that clung to them. She sighed, leaning on the wall next to her, and closed her eyes for a moment.

“Hey, Robin!” And immediately opened them again. Sumia had sat across from her on the table, brown eyes sparkling despite the dark scenery. Robin sat up, giving the girl a small wave.

“Morning, Sumia. I’m guessing you’re here about…?” The brunette nodded, beginning to rifle through her bag. After Sumia’s recital to the entire club on Friday, Robin had agreed to let the girl join and write a weekly poetry column. The girl got so ecstatic that she ended up falling over approximately three more times before escaping the building.

“Yeah! I wrote a bunch of new pieces for you to choose from for this week’s issue… Um, is that okay?” Sumia pulled out a ridiculously thick pile of poems and dropped them on the table with an unceremonious thud. Robin gulped.

“Uh. I guess so,” There was no way she was going to fit all of those in her bag. Robin looked between the practically sparkling Sumia back to the mountain of paper, sighed, and reached over to pull them to her side of the table. She picked one off the top and skimmed over it. “Another one about birds, huh?” It was cute and perky, much like Sumia herself. She had a distinctly eloquent yet light-hearted style that easily brought a smile to the face of its reader. Robin picked up the next one. “…This one’s about birds too.” She grabbed a few, just looking at their titles this time. ‘ _Summer Raven’, ‘Nest on the Mountain’, ‘The Seagull and the Sailor’_ … Wow. Robin looked up to see Sumia with a small smile, who was more interested in her lap.

“Is that a problem…?” She looked up, her face a bit pink. These were only a choice of poems for this week, so it didn’t really matter that they were all the same theme since only one was going to be included… But still, who could write _this_ many poems about _birds?_ In _one_ weekend!

“Well it’ll make reading all of them bit of a task. I’ll be spitting feathers by the time I get to the end.” Robin laughed lightly, placing the poems back on the pile. Sumia had gone a bright shade of red, seemingly mortified at the comment Robin had meant as a joke. The brunette quickly shot across the table, gathering up the pile in her hands and blubbering in apology.

“Oh I am _so_ sorry! I wrote too much, didn’t I?! And they’re all so _boring!_ I’ll never get readers with this! I mean, they’re going to think I’m such a birdbrain if I use any of _these_ as my first piece. Stupid Sumia! Stupid, stupid, _stupid!_ ” Sumia’s face had gone crimson by the end of it, huddling her papers to her chest. Robin stared on blankly, mouth half open, unsure how she provoked this response.

“Sumia, I didn’t mean-“

“I-is it hot in here or is it just me?” Sumia switched into panic mode, cheeks burning in shame, and moved to open the window. However, in typical Sumia fashion, tripped midway through her movement. Robin watched the scene as if in slow motion: the brunette falling on the window, opening it, and in the process the entire pile of poems in her arms emptied outside. The pieces of paper were quickly caught and carried by the strong winds, dashing them off in every direction physically possible. A prolonged squeak of horror escaped Sumia’s open mouth, her usually warm eyes stretched wide into very shocked dinner plates.

“Uh… Sumia?” Robin broke the fragile silence, jarring the girl out of her daze. She blinked and turned to face the girl, face almost as pale as Robin’s own.

“ _Oh GODS!”_ Sumia wailed, dashing out of the canteen door to try and retrieve her collection of prose. Robin glanced out the window to see that the rain had now turned most of the pieces to soggy mush, the paper congealing within the cobblestone cracks. Sumia sprinted out from the side of her vision, immediately getting soaked, and tripping on a particularly slippery rock. Classic Sumia. Robin squinted and froze as she saw an Ominous Figure emerge from the wayside, heading towards the fallen brunette. A pang of fear running through her chest, Robin ran out after her clumsy companion.

“Gee, Sumia, talk about a _rocky_ landing! Nya ha ha!” Robin rounded the corner to the sound of a jolly voice, seeing that the Ominous Figure had revealed himself as a student from their year. The white haired boy was helping Sumia to her feet, eyes squinted closed, with a big and slightly unsettling grin pasted across his pale features. Robin’s pace dropped to a saunter after noting the apparent danger was gone.

“H-Henry? Naga, please, tell me you didn’t see that.” Sumia had now gotten to her feet with the boy’s help, tending to her scraped knees with a heavy sigh. She managed to collect some remnants of poems in her arms, though by this point they resembled slushies more than any kind of literature.

“Yup! Man, you really ate dirt. Why’d you run out here anyway? Not sure if you’ve noticed but it’s raining, like, a whole _zoo_.” The brunette looked at her feet, playing with a strand of hair.

“I… My…” At this point, Robin appeared on the edge of the conversation. Henry turned to her with a cocked head, regarding her curiously. Sumia still didn’t look up.

“She dropped some stuff for the newspaper out the window,” She supplied, all the work she’d done into drying her hair instantly ruined. Robin paused to notice the boy was even more drenched than the two girls, yet still smiled like there was no tomorrow. “Why the heck are you out here? You’re not exactly wearing monsoon appropriate clothing.” Henry shrugged, the fabric of his short sleeved t-shirt sticking to his skin.

“I’m part of the Gardening Club, so I went out to try and protect our pretties from the rain!” He did not look like the type to be in such a light-hearted club. Or the type to say ‘pretties’ unless it was followed by mad cackling. Henry frowned – at least she assumed, it was more like he smiled slightly less - gesturing to a bag he held in his hand that Robin hadn’t noticed until now. “Couldn’t save the roses though. They got ruined before I got there. Man, if I could put a curse on the weather…” He clenched the plastic in his hand, his closed eyes contorting into a kind of menacing expression.

“O-oh! That’s such a shame…! How bad are they?” Sumia suddenly piped up, appearing at Henry’s side and staring at the bag. She held her hands behind her back, her soggy brown bangs flopping in front of her eyes.

“Eh, they only lost a few petals and stuff but their roots were completely turned to mush,” Henry made a nonchalant shrug, then turned to Sumia for a moment. “They still look kinda rosy though! You want one?” Without waiting for an answer, the boy fished in the big with one hand and pulled out a still mostly together rose, offering it to Sumia. Robin wasn’t sure if it was the coldness of the rain or the proposition itself, but Sumia’s cheeks seemed to take on a particularly deep red hue.

“It’s lovely…! Thank you Henry…” She took it from his hands, cradling it against her body to try and shield it from the rain. Henry kept his happy-go-lucky smile trained on her as they stood in silence. Robin suddenly felt extremely out of place. Sumia looked up and seemed to remember Robin existed, jumping up straight and turning to Henry. “Ah! You two don’t know eachother, do you? Um, this is Henry – he’s head of the Gardening Club and a member of the Occult Club!” The white haired boy grinned at Robin. The Occult Club seemed a far more fitting brand for the slightly terrifying student. “And this is Robin, the new head of the Newspaper Club!” Henry opened his mouth in a wide, excited ‘oh’ and stared – somehow – at her.

“ _Robin?!_ Oh, man, I _love_ robins! I always end up looking after a bunch in the winter. Nya ha ha, lemme guess, are you related to Jay? Your house must be a _roost_!” The boy fell about himself in laughter. Robin narrowed her eyes, then looked from Henry to Sumia. The latter had suddenly become very interested in the ground.

“…You like birds?” Robin ventured, seeing Sumia freeze. Henry didn’t seem to notice.

“Yup! Ever since I was a kid they’ve _flocked_ to me! You can ask Sumia, whenever we went out on walks they’d all just appear outta nowhere!” Oh. I see. Robin fought back a small smirk as Sumia seemed to fold into herself more and more. A small silence passed as Henry thought for a moment, before gasping again. “ _Wait!_ If Sumia’s writing in the newspaper, then…” He turned to the brunette, beaming. “Did you start writing poetry again?” Sumia flinched, awkwardly scratching her neck. She looked to the side, but Robin could still see the crimson peaked at the tip of her ears.

“Y-yeah…! Though the ones I was gonna submit for this week’s issue have kinda…” Sumia looked around at the mess again sadly. Henry followed her gaze and seemed to finally notice the white sludge. “A-ah, that reminds me!” She turned to Robin, her face still pink, but urgency flashed in her eyes. “I’ll write out a new one! B-by the end of lunch! I promise!” Robin smiled and patted her shoulder.

“Okay, no worries, you’ve still got until Friday.” Sumia nodded, but the determination written on her face told Robin that she was going to do it anyway.

“Wow, you look like a drowned rat,” A familiar snarky tone sounded from behind Robin, the raindrops suddenly stopping their descent on her head. She blinked, looking up to see a familiar black umbrella. “How long have you been standing out here in the rain? Forty seconds? Ten minutes? An hour? Because it looks like you’ve been here for at least the turn of a new century.” Robin sighed, turning to see the smirking face of her brother.

“Hello, Jay. Nice to see you too.” She said it in a sarcastic tone, but she genuinely was thankful that he showed up to share his umbrella. Jay glanced over her shoulder to look at the pair of Henry and Sumia.

“You guys should probably get out of the rain before you get sick. Lessons are starting in a few minutes,” The two turned to look at eachother, sharing small smiles, and started walking off in the direction of their classes. Jay turned his attention back to his sister, who wrenched herself away from watching the pair go. “I actually came to ask you if you wanted to come to Film Club this lunchtime.” Robin’s face betrayed her distaste.

“No offense, but it’s not really my thing.” Jay shrugged, raising his eyebrows.

“Just asking because you can’t exactly go to the bleachers with the weather like this.” Robin considered it. She hadn’t seen anyone else this break so she hadn’t had chance to discuss where they were going to go.

“True… But you’re the only person I’d know there.”

“Chrom will be there.” Jay pulled out the big guns, his sister’s mouth dropping open in shock.

“ _Chrom goes to Film Club?!”_ He smirked. He knew he had her. Stretching out his fingers, Jay began to nonchalantly study his nails.

“Yeah. He’s a big fan of superhero movies,” Robin continued to gape. “Oh, and those really terrible cheesy rom-coms.” Okay, this was getting a little unbelievable.

“You’re lying.” Robin narrowed her eyes, studying the face of her brother. It was like looking in a mirror. A smug, bespectacled mirror.

“I’m not. His favourite film is _‘Love Actually’._ ” She balked. Jay stared her in the eyes, his expression not betraying him. Robin could always tell when he was lying; the creases on the sides of his eyes always gave it away, or the quiver of his lip. She sighed in defeat – he really wasn’t lying.

“So that’s how you became friends?” Jay nodded, his grin returning. She’d been wondering that for a while, actually, how her nerdy brother came to be friends with the seemingly most popular and sporty guy in school. Now it all made sense. Cheesy, dorky, unbelievable sense. “…Fine, I’ll come.” Robin caved almost instantly. After all, how could she pass up the chance to spend her lunchtime with Chrom? The Film Club was bound to be quite small too – maybe it’d give her some one-on-one time with the boy in blue as her brother tended to the rest of the members.

“Too easy.” He snickered, beginning to walk down the path. Out of fear of somehow getting more soaked than she already was, Robin jogged to keep up with him. This was going to be an interesting lunch time.

* * *

“So, you see, that’s why _‘Captain Ylisse: The Summer Mercenary’_ is considered to be one of the best movies of all time. Ever.” The people crammed in the Film Club room clapped after Chrom finished his speech, returning to his seat as Jay began to take the front of the class again. As it turns out, he had invited everyone who usually hung out on the bleachers to the Film Club. This resulted in Robin sat behind the seats of Chrom and Frederick, bored out of her mind as her brother talked about the importance of framing in movies. She closed her eyes and slowly began to slide down the wooden chair. So much for spending time with Chrom alone…

The chattering from her friends buzzed dully in her ears. The room had almost taken on a humid feel, given the mix of its warmth and the wet clothes everyone wore from running through the rain. Beyond the fuzzy screen of her hearing Robin picked up the chirpy voice of Lissa talking enthusiastically about some Disney film, Gaius arguing about what the best kind of popcorn to eat when watching a movie was (toffee, by the sounds of it) and…

“-ourite movie?” Huh? Robin opened one eye to see the smiling face of Chrom. He’d turned around in his chair, apparently having finished his conversation with Frederick, and had now seemingly addressed her. Glancing behind her, she realised that he really _was_ talking to her. She sat up in her seat quickly, feeling a blush rise to her cheeks.

“I-I’m sorry, what?” He simply chuckled in response, unbothered about having to repeat himself.

“I asked what your favourite movie was. Your brother’s basically the cinematic oracle, so I’d imagine you’d have a pretty interesting pick.” That dashing grin was enough to make her heart explode. Robin’s mouth went dry, having to dig through the unused recesses of her brain to try and drag out a reasonable response. Unlike Jay, she hadn’t spent her entire childhood watching movie after movie until the next weekly trip to the video rental store. Robin had instead used her time rooting through the books and magazines her mother had amassed from her travels.

“Uh… I quite like _‘Footpath to Beratithia’.”_ She recalled the film she’d watched the most. It wasn’t a particularly amazing film – as Jay liked to point out – but every time it was on they’d both ended up in a sobbing mess by the end of it. Anything that makes you _that_ upset even after a million watches has to be at least given some merit. Chrom frowned.

“Really? It’s such a sad film,” He thought for a moment, rubbing his chin, before nodding with his smile returning. “Though I guess that’s what makes it so good. I’d never be able to let Lissa watch something like that, she’d probably drown us all in her tears.” Robin giggled at that, Chrom joining in with his low throated chuckle. A warm fuzzy feeling seized her chest.

“Yeah, she seems a bit too delicate to handle something as intense as that.” Robin managed to steadily meet Chrom’s gaze without stuttering like an idiot, a feat she silently congratulated herself for.  The moment seemed to last forever; Robin found herself almost lost in his intense, stormy eyes – the heightened beating of her heart ringing loudly and rhythmically in her ears. He was about to open his mouth to speak again, when he was interrupted by a certain high pitched voice.

“ _Hey!_ I am _not_ delicate!” Chrom laughed as his sister joined in on the conversation, arms crossed and cheeks puffed out in a pout. Robin grinned, but before she knew it, the spell was broken: Chrom had turned back to speaking with Frederick, and Lissa’s attention was pulled away by Sully and Virion. Still, the electricity surged through Robin’s veins at what had just transpired. She’d actually spoken to Chrom. Like a normal person. She suddenly felt the urge to tell someone about her achievement, looking around the room for a willing victim. Pretty much everyone except Olivia, Maribelle (who were both out at Crochet Club) and Sumia were present, the latter of which she assumed was out writing her poetry somewhere. Other than that, everyone else was… Wait. Robin scowled, her eyebrows bunching up in concern as she realised they were missing someone. Where was Stahl? He was always free lunchtime – well apart from when she dragged him to the newspaper room – and it’s not like Jay wouldn’t have invited him along to the club today. Where the heck could he have gotten… Oh. Wait.

“ _Crap,”_ She hissed under her breath, remembering how she was currently supposed to be in detention. A knot of guilt quickly formed in the pit of her stomach. “Hey, uh, Jay, I just remembered something I’ve gotta do – er, see you after school!” Robin quickly got to her feet, grabbing her bag and clambering past the closely set chairs. Her brother just blinked dumbly at her, everyone else watching her scramble to the door, then waved.

“Alright, see you la-“ She’d already closed the door behind her before Jay had finished his response. Her legs fuelled by pure panic, Robin sprinted out into the rain and began rushing in the direction of the English classrooms. How on earth had she forgotten that Mrs. Phila gave the two of them lunchtime detention?! Ugh! She’d been too busy thinking about Sumia and her column, especially since that weird encounter with Henry at break. The rain pounded hard against her face, half blinding her on her journey to the classrooms. Lunchtime was already more than half finished, there was no way Mrs. Phila was going to forgive her. Or Stahl, for that matter. The thought twisted her stomach even more. It was her fault they’d gotten detention in the first place: if she hadn’t worked them both so hard the week before, they probably wouldn’t have forgotten about that homework. Or would’ve at least found more time to do it. Skidding to a halt at the long line of classes, she began a normal walking pace, wheezing as she went. Her heart hammered even harder than when she was talking to Chrom, getting closer and closer to her English classroom. She’d almost reached it when she saw a familiar figure step out of the room.

“ _Stahl!_ I am _so_ sorry!” Robin shouted, breaking into a run again and almost colliding into the boy. He turned to her with a startled expression, managing to catch her by the shoulders before she ended up toppling both of them onto the floor.

“Woah! Hey! Slow down there!” His voice was as calm and friendly as always, only driving more guilt into Robin’s stomach. He met Robin’s wide, panicked eyes with his own mellow hazel ones. “…And Mrs. Phila thought _I_ was the bad one! You didn’t even show up for detention. You’re quite the rebel, Miss Finch.” Stahl laughed, removing his hands from her shoulders and running one through his hair. Despite the majority of it being soaked from the downpour, his cowlick still obstinately stuck out. Robin’s chest still felt tight, but his carefree reaction ebbed away some of her shame.

“Oh, gods, she is going to _kill_ me. I better speak to her now before she gets even angrier.” Robin went to move past him to get to the classroom, but Stahl blocked her way. Puzzled, Robin glanced up at him. He simply smiled and shook his head.

“No need. I sorted it all out, she’s not mad at you anymore,” She stared at him in utter disbelief. He met her gaze and shrugged, reaching a hand into his messy bag. “No, seriously! She just wanted me to re-write that homework and get it in for next lesson. You can copy mine if you want.” He pulled out a now crumpled piece of paper covered in the trademark messy scrawl of Stahl. Robin could barely read it, but took it from his hands anyway. How the hell had he managed to swing this?

“I’m… I really am sorry for missing detention. It must’ve really sucked being stuck in there on your own.” She held the essay in her hands, water droplets falling from the end of her nose as the rain continued to batter the walls outside. Stahl shrugged again, his mellow lopsided smile appearing across his features.

“No worries. It wasn’t too bad. Besides, I figured something pretty important must’ve happened for you to not show up.” Suddenly finding a fascination with the floor, Robin cast her gaze downward. She ran a hand to the back of her neck and emitted a quiet, awkward laugh.

“Well… Not exactly,” She shuffled her feet. “I forgot… and Jay invited me to the Film Club at break. Normally I never would’ve agreed to go, but…” Robin trailed off, chancing a glance back up to his face. His expression hadn’t changed.

“Let me guess, Chrom was there?” She flinched, heat rising to her cheeks and ears. Was she really that obvious? Figuring that he really wasn’t angry with her, she began fiddling with the hem of her sleeve and recounted the event from a few minutes before.

“Yeah… Did you know his favourite superhero was Captain Ylisse?” Robin looked up at Stahl who had struck an almost comical thinking pose, one eyebrow raised.

“Really? Captain Ylisse? Huh,” He rubbed the bridge of his nose and grinned. “I prefer Steel Guy myself.” Robin rolled her eyes, smiling despite herself and all her previous concern completely dissipated. It felt like it was physically impossible for Stahl to get angry, or even upset – he just shrugged it off and continued like nothing had happened. She punched him lightly on the arm.

“Trust you to like the millionaire playboy.” He laughed, raising his hands in defense as the two began walking down the hall.

“Hey, the guy’s cool! Killer sarcasm, giant murderous robot suit, what’s not to love?” Robin joined in his laughter, raising her eyebrows at his vindication of a fictional character. She was about to fire back a response when she saw a certain white haired individual glancing into one of the English classrooms. Stahl followed her line of sight and blinked.

“Hey, Henry,” Her voice bounced around the hallway, causing the boy to turn in their direction. He didn’t seem surprised, just mildly amused. Yet again he always looked like that. Stahl followed by her side as they walked up to him. “What’re you doing here?” Henry stepped away from the window and smiled at them both, shrugging playfully.

“Oh, you know! Stuff and things! But now you’re _robin_ me of my free time!” Henry smacked his knee and began to laugh very loudly, almost doubled over at his awkwardly inserted pun. Stahl covered his mouth, but she could still hear his stifled snicker. “Get it? Because you’re named after a bird? Nya ha ha! Oh, I slay me.” The boy beamed at her. Robin was not impressed. Moving past him, she peeked in through the window he had been stood next to. In the classroom, sure as day, was Sumia sat alone at a desk working away on a piece of paper. Occasionally she sighed, balled up a sheet or smacked her head on the table. Robin slowly turned back to Henry, trying very hard to hold back a smirk. Noticing this, Stahl glanced in behind her. Henry kept his unreadably jolly expression.

“So… ‘Stuff and things’ just happened to be watching Sumia, huh?” She began cautiously. Henry just swayed back and forth on his heels, nodding, and grinning like a fool possessed. A few seconds of tense silence passed before Robin finally gave in and just decided to ask him. “Seriously, what is up with you two?” The boy paused. For a moment she thought he wasn’t going to answer, before he began explaining in his chipper tone.

“We’ve known eachother since we were tiny! We always used to go around playing and chasing birds together: we’re birds of a feather, her and me!” He tried to stop himself from laughing at his genius joke but failed. Henry continued his story through his hysteric chuckles. “She always used to let me read her poems, and whenever some kid decided to bully her… Well, I’d take care of them. Basically, we’re best friends!” Robin was sceptical, considering she’d only seen the two interact earlier that day. And it hadn’t exactly been the most amiable of confrontations. He noticed this and deflated a bit. “Although she’s been pretty busy recently, and she’s got a whooole bunch of swell new friends! So we haven’t been able to hang out as much. It’s okay though, I’m just really happy she’s doing well!” There was the slightest hint of sadness in his tone. Or, at least Robin thought. She could very well have been imagining it considering how his cheery demeanour hadn’t changed. Still, she was struck by a bittersweet feeling at his story. Judging by Sumia’s poems, and Henry’s… activities, it seemed they were both missing eachother. There had to be some way around this, yet she didn’t exactly want to force him into being friends with the whole group.

“How about you join the Newspaper Club?” Stahl piped up from behind her. Turning around she saw his bright, lazy smile present on his face. Henry hummed, seemingly thinking about it. “You’d be able to see Sumia a lot more. Well, when we get more desks in anyway. She’ll be writing in our club room rather than here then,” Stahl glanced over his shoulder at the classroom she was working in, then turned back to Henry. “We can just give you a small job, like managing the members’ schedules and deadlines. That way we can be more organised, we’ll be able to balance the club with schoolwork and you’ll be able to see Sumia whenever you want.” Robin almost stared at him, the idea was so genius. Henry finally nodded enthusiastically at Stahl’s suggestion.

“Yeah! That seems easy! Thanks guys, you’re real eggheads, you know that? Nya ha ha!” He tore off down the hall, somehow more upbeat than before. Waving as he went, Henry disappeared from sight. Naga knows where that boy was off to. The problem solved, Robin turned back to face her reposeful friend.

“That was really nice of you, y’know?” Stahl blinked and looked down at her, sheepishly scratching his head. He seemed almost bashful at the praise.

“What? Nah, I just said the first thing that came to mind. Besides, I wouldn’t have offered it if you hadn’t figured out what was going on in the first place,” Now Robin scratched her head, her compliment deflected right back at her. Stahl seemed almost wistful for a moment before speaking again. “That, and… Well, I figured it’d be good to help a couple of _lovebirds_ like them.” He held up his open palm, the quiet forlorn atmosphere completely broken. Robin snorted but high-fived him anyway.

“You’re terrible.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> //runs from GaiusxSumia shippers  
> //also runs from OliviaxHenry shippers  
> //just runs, in general
> 
> Okay okay, hear me out, as much as I love those two ships... Sumia and Henry, man. I just. I can't.  
> I feel like it's kind of a low-key ship, but I really like it. Something about how they're both weird and quirky in their own ways, but unlike all their other supports, they don't really bring attention to it.  
> Instead of having a slow-burn where the other person eventually realises they have nice things about them, these two just have their goofy little adventures. Sumia doesn't care Henry's a freaky hex slinging weirdo, and Henry doesn't care Sumia's a klutz who ruins most things she touches. It's a nice change of pace. Also body-swapping.  
> I JUST REALLY LIKE IT OKAY??? ;.; Plus it's a really underused ship in fanfics, so heck, figured I'd bring in some variety.  
> pleasedon'tkillme
> 
> IN OTHER NEWS, I spent a whole day trying to come up with knock-off names for movies. Here are the ones that didn't make the cut:  
> The Infinitely-Repeating Tale (Neverending Story), Academy of Jazz, starring Hugh Blue (School of Rock), Lunchtime at Hillary's (Breakfast at Tiffany's), Jolly Flippers (Happy Feet), Crazy Cal: Angry Highway (Mad Max: Fury Road), Liquidboat Up (Watership Down), The Princess Betrothed (Princess Bride), Creatures Ltd. (Monsters Inc.), Good Things About Being A Social Reject (Perks of Being a Wallflower), Jomeo x Ruliet (Romeo x Juliet), Weird Wednesday, starring Rindsey Rohan (Freaky Friday) and Poltergeist Police (Ghostbusters)  
> (Yes okay I'm a film nerd don't judge me)  
> But let's be real. The best superhero is Arachnidfellow.
> 
> The next chapter... Is gonna be a real doozy. Just. Trust me on this one.
> 
> ALSO I'm open for ship suggestions (I've got a few planned out but most are just... Up in the air), no promises but. Gotta guage audience demands, right?  
> OH and any ideas for future columnists ;D There's a bunch I've got down but I'm always open to new suggestions. There's a new one next chapter (spoilers) so I hope you look forward to it!
> 
> As per usual, thanks for the support! I'm glad you guys are liking this so far!


	5. Horrorscope

Robin shuffled through her piles of paper, scanning over the pieces of columns and articles spread across her lap. The breeze threatened to carry them away every so often with a sharp tug, but she was too quick to let some inanimate force of nature snatch away her club’s hard work. It was a relatively pleasant Wednesday morning: there were no gale-force winds today, no sub-zero temperatures and no torrential rain, although Robin did sneak glances at the silvery clouds every so often. Kicking her feet in thought, she sat on one of the short stone walls outside the form classes, surrounded by her friends who slowly started leaking in as the minutes waned on. Her gaze was suddenly drawn by the steady humming sound Lissa was emitting.

“Uh, Lissa, what are you doing?” The blonde didn’t glance up from her crouching position behind the bushes, her eyes fixed on her distant target. She hadn’t moved all morning from that spot. It took a few seconds until she finally responded, pointing out towards where a boy stood across the courtyard. With a head of deep brown hair, the tall boy was more focused on his skateboard than anyone around him – although everyone seemed to be giving him a wide berth as it was. She could barely make it out from this distance, but Robin saw somewhat scary features adorning his solemn face. Robin turned to Lissa, who shot her a sideways glance.

“He’s a boy in the year above. Chrom says he doesn’t have any friends and Vaike said he’s the best student in his P.E. class, but he doesn’t even so much as look at anyone,” Lissa made an uncharacteristic frown, concern painted across her usually warm face. “I wish I could find a way to talk to him! I tried approaching him when I saw him at the local skate park, but all he said was ‘you’re not here to skate’ and kicked me out.” She imitated a low voice, waving her arms around in an unflattering impersonation. Robin looked back to the boy thoughtfully, though she was soon interrupted by the sudden appearance of Olivia.

“Morning Liv,” The pink haired girl smiled, taking a seat next to her on the wall and glancing to Lissa with the same puzzled expression Robin had worn a few minutes before. “She’s trying to befriend some boy in the year above.” Robin answered before she even asked, Lissa looking back and giving Olivia a polite nod, then immediately returning to her observations.

“Aw, that’s sweet,” She giggled breathily, pulling her scarf up more and looking out to see the brown haired skater boy herself. Olivia blinked and opened her eyes wide in a mix of surprise and recognition. “Oh, that’s Lon’qu!” Lissa’s ears perked up at the sound of the boy’s name, turning around and rushing up to Olivia.

“You know him?! Tell me _everything!_ ” The blonde put both her hands on the girl’s shoulders, shaking her with a look of desperation in her leafy green eyes. Going bright red, Olivia just let herself be shaken around by the petit girl as she tried to speak.

“H-he went to my old school in F-Ferox! Um, I h-heard he went to a b-bunch of skateboarding tournaments in the d-district. My uncle s-said he was one of his favourite s-students,” She paused, eyes narrowed as she tried to recall anything else about him. Lissa had ceased shaking her, instead staring at the girl intently as if she held the secret to eternal life. “I th-think he said he had some kind of p-problem with girls… He used to have a small fan club in school, but I think he scared them all off.” Turning on her heel, Lissa returned to study Lon’qu with a hand put to her chin and her head cocked at an angle. Her pigtails slowly drifted side to side in the cool breeze.

“Interesting…” She whispered under her breath. Olivia and Robin exchanged looks, the former still red from her shakedown. Before they could say anything, the bell for form class rang out across the yard, causing all the students to get to their feet and begin ambling to the classrooms. Robin sighed and gathered up all her papers, tucking them neatly back into her bag. Jay quickly fell in by her and Olivia’s side, whistling blithely.

“How’s this week’s issue going?” Robin frowned at her brother. He’d invaded her room last night when she had her head on the desk, surrounded by the pages of the paper that were due in for Friday. She shifted uncomfortably, pulling up the strap of her bag and feeling the curious gaze of Olivia at her other side.

“You _know_ how it’s going,” She held her head high, but still her voice rose a pitch indignantly. Thank gods Gaius wasn’t around to tease her for it. “The article Stahl wrote is interesting even considering there wasn’t much going on this week, and Sumia’s and Old Hubba’s columns are really good - they’re very solid segments. But…” She trailed off, biting her lip as a moment of anxiety swept over her. It was only two days until the deadline, but there wasn’t enough material to cover a full issue of the paper. The first week’s was easy since they could just fill a few pages with the new club rosters; they didn’t have that kind of insurance now.  Jay trailed a knowing eye to her face, the dull sunlight glinting off of the lenses of his glasses.

“Too much space left,” He finished for her. His voice had an air of finality to it which made Robin hang her head. Jay opened the door to their form for the two girls, Olivia following in behind Robin and shooting concerned glances over her woollen scarf. The three sat down in silence as Gregor took roll call, the occasional name followed by light-hearted banter between the teacher and the students. Jay tapped his fingers on the desk in front of them until Gregor finally finished, sitting back in his chair as the rest of form continued on in casual conversation. He leaned over to whisper in his sister’s ear. “Don’t worry, I’ve sorted out something for you,” Robin sat up, turning to her brother and giving him a doubtful look. Offering a carefree smile similar to Stahl’s, he shrugged. “What? You don’t trust me?”

“It’s not that. It’s just things don’t usually go my way when you refuse to tell me something.” Robin’s mind flew back to when he didn’t tell her about the shutdown of the school’s newspaper a couple of weeks prior. Olivia tuned in to their conversation, exchanging looks between the siblings.

“Fair enough. It’s nothing bad though, I promise. Just go to the Newspaper Club room lunchtime and I’ll show you.” He leaned on one hand, his face a mask of impassiveness. Chewing the inside of her cheek, Robin fixed him with a glare but still nodded in assent. She leaned back on her chair and crossed her arms.

“Fine,” She turned to Olivia sharply, who jumped at the sudden attention. “Olivia, you show up at lunchtime too. I need your help captioning the photos you’ve given me,” Pulling on her scarf – a habit she recently picked up – she smiled hesitantly in agreement. “Good.” She rose to her feet as the bell sounded, looking between the two of them, and then walking off to her first class of the day.

* * *

The Newspaper Club had _finally_ gotten a few new desks to decorate the stark interior of its base of operations, thanks to Chrom’s continuous persistence at school council meetings. The members had helped the head boy move the furniture in the day before, resulting in Sumia almost giving herself a concussion and Stahl finally being able to demolish the ‘workspace’ in the closet. Robin sat at the same desk, looking out at the six new additions to the room: Stahl’s desk was the one nearest her own, already covered in a mess of papers, pens, sticky-notes and half-forgotten snacks. Then there was Olivia’s, which she’d covered in a crocheted tablecloth (which was actually pretty well made) and a few pieces of camera equipment she’d borrowed from her aunt. Lissa’s was exactly what you’d expect: a spattering of colour accentuated by multiple cute, plush animal toys which she’d brought in to ‘brighten the place up’. Sumia’s desk was still pretty plain, although Henry had just showed up to place a vase of sunflowers on it – a gesture that both made her blush and babble out a prolonged sentence that probably meant ‘thanks’. The remaining two desks were empty, reserved for any hopeful new members they may recruit in the future.

Robin leaned back in her new leather office chair, still having to fiddle with the lever to get it to the right height. Sumia and Henry were talking by the girl’s desk when Olivia walked in, immediately expelling a very large, violent sneeze. It lulled the three inhabitants of the room into silence, all turning to stare at the pink haired girl whose face was slowly turning the same colour as her fringe.

“U-um… S-sorry… I have b-bad pollen allergies…” She glanced over at the bunch of flowers with an apologetic smile, then hurried off to the side of Robin’s desk, looking more mortified now she was out of the two’s eyesight. Henry shrugged, wrapping the sunflowers back up and just handing them to Sumia in a bunch. She didn’t seem to mind. “Has Jay shown up yet?” Robin shook her head, beginning to spin around in her chair and slump down more onto the leather.

“Nope. He better show up soon though, I asked Stahl to get me lunch and if I don’t get there in ten minutes he’ll probably have eaten it,” She pulled up to her desk, slightly dizzy from the spinning, and lined up the pictures Olivia had handed in for this week. The girl hesitantly leaned on the side of the furniture, glancing over at her work. “While we’re waiting we better sort these ou-“ Robin was interrupted by the sound of someone loudly clearing their throat. She slowly looked up to see her brother leaning on the side of the doorway, the Finch grin painted across his face. Robin sighed. “About time.” Jay shrugged and began walking towards her desk.

“Can the sass, young lady. You should be thanking me for saving this week’s issue.” She frowned, trailing her eyes up and down her brother. He just had his arms crossed – no articles or really anything helpful in his hands.

“Really? And how’s that?” The monotone voice she addressed him with betrayed her tired hostility, though Jay just shrugged it off and chuckled.

“I brought you her.” He stepped to the side, revealing a girl who had been walking behind him the whole time. She wore all black, her long dark hair falling in front of her eyes, and the heavy makeup she plastered on her pale face made her seem like a gothic doll. The girl slowly looked up at Robin, something akin to delight twinkling in her light grey eyes. She suddenly felt very uncomfortable, a sensation that made the sudden silence the room had drifted into feel almost suffocating. After a few long, agonising moments, the girl’s mouth quirked into a small smile.

“I love your work. I’ve got newspaper clippings of it all hung around my room. I’ve even got a scrapbook with your name on it, Robin Finch.” The Goth’s voice was a whispering drawl, though it peaked when she said her name – reducing it to a monotone, almost husky purr. Robin knit her brows in confusion.

“You have newspaper clippings… Of my newspaper clippings?” The girl ‘tsk’d, rolling her eyes at the question. Olivia had practically hidden behind Robin’s desk at this point.

“Well of course. Every article you’ve helped co-write, every spread that has your hallmark themes on it, every column that cited your name…” She emitted a dark chuckle, resulting in Robin having to choke back a shudder. Jay just stood to her side, a very tense smile, whereas Henry and Sumia further towards the front of the room were watching the exchange with a culmination of intrigue and horror, respectively. Robin sat up in her chair and cleared her throat.

“Uh, w-why are you here?” The question came out as a squeak. The girl’s smirk faded slightly, keeping her eyes trained on Robin, and then bowed her head.

“My name Is Tharja. Head of this school’s pitiful excuse of an Occult Club. I use my powers of dark arts to divine the most horrifying outcomes, pry in to people’s most valuable secrets, and cast curses on those who wish to interfere with my nefarious rituals…” Robin raised an eyebrow at the cold chill that swept over the room. At the Occult Club comment, she glanced over Tharja’s shoulder to Henry, who shrugged overdramatically and returned a huge grin. Great, now there were two Grima worshipping weirdos in the office.

“And this has to do with the newspaper how?” She turned back to the dark haired Goth who looked less than happy about being interrupted. Tharja raised her nose in defiance, then sighed.

“I can do horoscopes.” She crossed her arms and started staring at Robin again expectantly. She turned to Jay – who was now wearing a proud, victorious grin – then leaned back into her chair. The thought rolled around in her head. A weekly horoscope would fill in the spaces she was missing since it was sure to be a two page spread, not to mention teenagers eat up the whole ‘destiny written in the stars’ mumbo jumbo. Yet again Robin was kind of uncomfortable with the prospect of letting this girl into their room, especially with the whole creepy obsession thing. But if Jay was confident enough to bring her here… Robin looked at her brother again. There was no sign of worry or hesitance hidden behind those glass lenses of his. Robin clicked her tongue, casting her eyes to Tharja.

“Okay, you can join. Go ahead and take the desk in front of Lissa’s.” A palpable feeling of relief flooded the room at her decision. All the other club members seemed to trust Robin’s judgement enough to regard Tharja as a non-threat, so any sign of tension vanished. Olivia stood up properly again, attempting a shy smile at the Goth, whose eyes sparkled at her acceptance.

“You’re wise to accept my help, I assure you I am far more capable than any other idiot you may recruit,” It was almost a hiss – almost – as her eyes darted about the room. Robin suddenly felt a tinge of regret at her decision. “Now,” Her eyes turned back, leaning over the desk to grab one of Robin’s hands that were placed on top of the photos. She froze. “Could you please tell me what your star sign is?” A creepy, almost witch-like giggle escaped from her heavily rouged lips. Looking between her brother and Olivia, who both seemed very unsettled by this new development, Robin gulped and turned to Tharja in hesitant terror.

“Uh… Aries?” She said cautiously. Tharja’s face lit up again, beaming at her response.

“Me too! This proves it, we’re bound by the cosmos itself – our fate is intertwined… Our bond is even deeper than that of sisters.” Her voice dropped to a hushed whisper, eyes sparkling like the very stars she spoke of. Disturbed, Jay finally intervened and patted Tharja’s shoulder.

“Okay, Tharja, let’s get you back to your crystal ball now. You’ve got a column to write.” She snapped her head around to shoot a glare that could melt glaciers at his interruption, but seceded anyway. Robin was still frozen stock-still after she let go of her hand, watching as her brother led the girl out of the room.

“…She seemed nice.” Olivia finally spoke up, pulling on one of the thicker threads of her scarf. Robin just sighed, leaning forward on her desk and pinching the bridge of her nose. The things she did for this newspaper…

* * *

Robin tapped her pale fingers on the side of her desk, surveying the spread she’d created. The ticking clock that echoed in her ears only continued to remind her that it was only a matter of minutes before the issue was due in, screwing up her eyes in an attempt to find any flaws she may have missed. Sumia’s new column had a beautiful cursive title Lissa created, the poem she’d chosen – ‘ _The Crow’s Lullaby’ –_ flanked by dainty little drawn black feathers backed on pastel pink paper. Picking up the entries for the horoscope Tharja had just left on her desk, she placed the cut-out dark purple pieces on the two empty pages that remained. Taking another glance over the layout and placing the column right under Lissa’s spider webbed title, Robin nodded to herself in approval. The second issue had finally been completed. Exhaling deeply, Robin looked over at the club members who had been watching her intensely since the last bell for the school rung.

“We’re done.” A smile tugged at the side of her lips at everyone’s relieved sighs, all turning to congratulate eachother in a loud celebration. Robin hadn’t been the only one who’d felt the pressure. Everyone seemed just as invested as eachother; the newspaper was _their_ creation, an amalgamate of everyone’s hard work and dedication to amass a product they could all be proud of. Lissa and Olivia spun eachother around in a joyful embrace, tears pricking at the sides of the Feroxi’s eyes, Henry and Sumia ‘whooping’ as they punched the air in victory. Even Tharja seemed pleased with herself, legs crossed as she leaned against her chair at the front. The only exception was Stahl, who was asleep with half a chocolate chip cookie smothered across his face.

Turning back to the spread, curiosity pulled her to Tharja’s column again. The introduction was flawlessly worded, talking about Tharja’s ‘arcane arts’ and how her predictions were taken from ‘the whisperings of the dark gods themselves’, but Robin had felt no need to read over the horoscopes themselves. After all, it’s not like they were actually true… Right? She trailed her finger to the Aries entry.

‘ _Aries – Monday:_

_Today you will have a romantic encounter, most likely with a Gemini._

_Lucky Colour: Turquoise, Lucky Number: 12’_

Something caught in Robin’s throat as she read over it, feeling a rush of pink rise to her cheekbones. Gemini… Did she know anyone with that star sign? She didn’t really care about having a romantic encounter with just anyone though. Maybe she should check, just in case.

“Er, Tharja? Our horoscope for Monday…?” Tharja met her gaze and shrugged, her gaze darkening at its mention.

“Ugh, I know. I’m not even interested in any Geminis, too friendly for my tastes. Still, I can’t change what the stars say.” She leaned her pale chin on one hand, studying her dark painted nails. Robin gulped. She’d no doubt that Tharja had some… Disturbing talents, but she somehow doubted that telling trivial things about the next week was one of them. Robin turned to Lissa who had just finished high-fiving Sumia.

“Lissa?” She beckoned the blonde over. Blinking her innocent, green eyes she bounced over to the Head Editor’s desk, sunlight shining from her face at her happy smile. Robin cleared her throat, trying to ignore the embarrassment this was going to cause her. “Er… Chrom. What star sign is he…?” A knowing smirk quickly formed on the girl’s face, raising her eyebrows.

“His birthday’s May 27th, so that’d make him… Uh… The one with the twins.” Oh my gods. Robin looked from her, to the column, then back at her again. She could tell her face had gone scarlet by Lissa’s mischievous grin.  Chrom was a Gemini. She was an Aries. On Monday they’d have a romantic encounter. This was actually happening.

“A-Are you sure?” Lissa nodded, leaning over Robin to sneak a glance at the paper.

“Yup, one hundred percent! Is there something cool in the horoscope? Oh! And what was this week’s Old Hubba write-in?” Robin quickly stacked the pieces together to hide them from Lissa’s prying gaze. She scrunched up her nose in dissatisfaction.

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait until Monday for those, Princess.” She used Gaius’ nickname for the blonde, which fit surprisingly well. Sighing overdramatically, she huffed and slumped her shoulders all the way back to her desk.

“Fiiiiiiine.” At its mention, Robin peered over her paper to reread the Old Hubba article for herself. This week’s was a very interesting one.

_‘Hiya Old Hubba!_

_I need to ask your advice on something very particular: how to get close with someone you don’t know very well. Okay, so, there’s this person – not telling who! – that I really want to try and get to know. They’re in a different year to me, so that was hard enough, but even when I tried approaching them without an excuse they told me to go away!  They’re really standoffish and aren’t afraid to be rude at my attempts, but I don’t want to give up! Please, please, please tell me how I can do this!_

_Thanks in advance, sonotdelicate’_

This was a far more energetic write-in than last week’s, the cheery nature of the writer practically jumping out of the page. It was enough to make Robin crack a smile. Looking further down the column, Robin reread the response.

_‘Hey, sonotdelicate!_

_Thanks for writing in, as always, and I hope my advice finds you well! That’s quite the problem you’ve got there, huh? How to approach someone you don’t know… Well, I’d say the best course of action is to try and join in on their interests! It’s always much easier to talk to someone if you’ve got something in common, so if you don’t have something like that already you should try and get interested in something they like! That way they may feel like you’re putting in some effort on their behalf, so they’d be a lot more welcoming to you. Good luck, and have a nice week!’_

She looked over the paper to see Stahl finally waking up in the commotion, yawning as he glanced around the room at all the cheerful members chatting amongst themselves. Turning in Robin’s direction, he quirked an eyebrow. Robin met his gaze with a peculiar smile she was having trouble suppressing, causing him to rise to his feet and lazily saunter over to her seat.

“You seem happy. Still relieved about the issue?” She felt his half lidded hazel eyes glean past her defences, and she instantly knew that he didn’t believe it was just that.

“Sort of. But, to be honest…” He kept his stare trained on her as Robin began to fidget, biting her lip as she looked back over to the horoscope column. “…I’m actually really excited about my horoscope for Monday.” Stahl sighed, shaking his head as his smile crept further up his cheeks.

“I didn’t think you’d be the type to get into that kind of thing.” He chuckled, rubbing his freckled nose as he rested an arm on her desk. Shrugging, Robin tried to fight off the grin that threatened to cling to her face. Her attempt to act nonchalant was not working.

“Yeah, well… You know… I guess I could keep my mind open to this whole ‘fate’ thing. I mean, what if it’s all true and I’ve just been blinded by my own hubris? Can’t chance that happening.” He broke into a full-on laugh this time, his cowlick bouncing with the rise and fall of his shoulders. Sheepishly, Robin scratched the back of her neck.

“Hey is the issue finished yet?” The entire room turned to see Chrom in the doorway, his usual dashing smile lighting up his surroundings. Everyone fell into silence as they watched him march up to Robin’s desk.

“A-ah, yeah! Right here!” Robin rose to her feet and gathered up all the articles in order again, straightening up the pile, and handing it to him. She felt his hand accidentally brush against one of her fingertips in the process, sparks of electricity jolting between them.

“Fantastic! I’ll just let Cordelia hand these out on Monday since I’m busy.” He gave her a nod and began to turn away, but before he got far Robin piped up – the words escaping her mouth before she could stop herself.

“W-where are you Monday?” Her eyes stretched wide as the question tumbled from her. Chrom glanced over his shoulder at her, his smile still present.

“Cross-country practice. I’ve gotta get in first thing to sort out our course, then lunchtime I’ll be running all over the school in an attempt to clear it,” His chuckle rang deep and warm, the tenseness Robin felt being washed away with each utterance. “Not sure if I’ll be able to do that first time around, but we’ll see! Alright, thanks again, hope you guys have a nice weekend!” Sharing a wide wave with everyone else in the room who chorused his goodbyes, Chrom walked out the doorway and went on his way to photocopy the issue. Robin collapsed back in her chair, mind whirring at the new information. Stahl, who had watched the whole exchange with curious eyes, turned to her.

“Something up on Monday?” She looked to him, determination setting in on her crimson face. Grabbing his arm, she addressed the laid-back boy directly.

“You’re coming with me to follow Chrom around Monday lunchtime.” He blinked.

“Why am I doing that?”

“Because it’d be weird if he finds me trailing him alone!”

“It’ll still be weird if he finds the both of us trailing him alone.” Robin pouted, playing with a long strand of her pale hair.

“What if we say it’s for an article for next week’s issue?” Stahl stared at her imploring golden irises, crumb covered mouth taut as he thought about the offer. Robin pulled more on his arm, willing him to agree. After what seemed like an eternity, he caved, sighing as he leaned towards her.

“Okay, okay, I’ll come with you,” He poked her nose, causing her to go cross-eyed. The classic lopsided Stahl grin resurfaced. “But only if you buy me lunch first.”

* * *

“So right about now he’ll be… Here, around the english classrooms…” Robin studied the map she’d copied onto the back page of the newspaper, the pages rustled by the small winds and the momentum from her brisk walk. Stahl trailed behind her, looking around at the school’s scenery as he stuffed his second bacon wrap into his cavernous mouth. She paused and looked up. “There!” Pointing across the way, she spotted a very sweaty Chrom running across the grass bordering the building, on his way to the science block. Stahl followed it and nodded.

“Yep, that’s Chrom alright. What exactly does this have to do with your horoscope?” He spit a few crumbs as he talked. Robin pulled out a pair of binoculars and followed the boy’s path, picking up her pace again as she guessed where he’d be heading next.

“It said I’d have a romantic encounter with him.” She whispered it, turning back to Stahl with the binoculars still raised to her eyes. Through them she could see the magnified look of calm indifference etched into his sleepy face.

“You, specifically? With Chrom?”

“That’s not important,” Stahl hustled to keep up with her, popping a couple of mini doughnuts into his mouth as they went. Robin glanced back to the map, dropping the binoculars around her neck, and tracing the path with her thumb. “What’s important is that we need to get to the other side of this field before he rounds the music block.” Stahl pulled a worried frown.

“Look, I’m all for going on wacky adventures while you pay for my food, but I’m not sure how stalking him across the campus is supposed to end in a ‘romantic encounter’.” His voice carried to Robin on the breeze, who scoffed in return.

“This way I can set up the _perfect_ romantic encounter! Jeez, Stahl, you don’t know anything about romance. Haven’t you ever had a girlfriend?” She pulled his arm as they ducked behind a fence. The boy glanced at her with an air of melancholy Robin had never seen before, driving instant guilt into her chest. It wasn’t a topic that had ever come up previously but Robin had not expected such a kicked-puppy reaction. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it, instead putting a gentle hand on his shoulder as she carefully formulated her words. “…Look, it doesn’t matter. Just… Let me do this, okay? If I don’t try anything I’ll get mad at myself for it later. After all, how are you supposed to win the race if you don’t even enter it?” He gave her a small smile in response, allowing her to draw her attention back to the task at hand. Peeking over the fence, she saw Chrom just about emerging from behind the last science class, causing her to leap into action and drag a semi-willing Stahl behind her.

“If I’m just going to be trailing behind you this whole time, could you at least let me read the paper?” She cast a brief glance over her shoulder.

“Didn’t you get a copy from Cordelia this morning?” He shook his head. “Oversleep again?” He nodded his head. Rolling her eyes, she passed the newspaper back to him, having memorised the map by this point. “Let’s see… If we go around this way, we’ll be able to reach the lake… Yeah… Yeah! Then I’d be able to meet him head on…” She muttered under her breath, clicking her tongue as she surveyed the area. Behind her, Stahl was using his one free hand to navigate through this week’s issue, chuckling lightly as he read over the various columns. They eventually came to a halt a few metres away from the huge lake that bordered the music rooms and the wider field used by the Equestrian Club. Robin panted, letting go of the boy and putting her hands on her knees in an attempt to catch her breath. Stahl seemed unbothered by the exercise, instead taking on an unusually quiet demeanour as he read through some part of the paper. “You… Okay…?” She huffed, wiping a bead of sweat from her brow and turning to address the boy.

“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine,” He tore his gaze away from it, giving her a reassuring smile. “We stopping here?” Robin nodded in response, shrugging off her jacket as she took a few steps towards the lake.

“We just… Gotta wait here… Until… Boy wonder comes… Zooming around the corner…” Robin had devised the perfect plan: here she’d be waiting, after ushering Stahl into some dense bushes, with a large water bottle, towel and sandwich in hand. When seeing her with such considerate offerings, Chrom would bound over to her and thank her, realising his deeply hidden affections for her. Then they’d exchange a chaste, slightly sweaty kiss next to the rippling, turquoise lake and live happily forever after. Having now regained her breath, she turned to Stahl with a large grin. “Just you watch, soon you’ll be calling me the girlfriend of the most popular guy in-“ After taking a step backward without looking, she felt her foot slip out from under her. The onlooking Stahl’s face turned from a content, dozy smile to a wide eyed shout of terror as Robin’s vision went from the grassy plains, to the blue sky, then to the watery surface of the lake.

Her head quickly submerged under the water, the breath knocked from her body now floating up in large bubbles. Robin felt herself sinking deeper and deeper, her silver hair sprawled out around her in thin tendrils as her weight sent her plummeting further away from the surface of the lake. Arms outstretched, she desperately clawed at the liquid, feeling fearful bullets of tears escape the sides of her eyes – she was helpless, frozen in fear as the will of the deep dragged her down, down, down. The hazy streams of sunlight flickered from above, sparsely illuminating Robin’s vision of the rippling surface as everything slowly got darker. It was at this point true panic began to set in - just as her chest seized in tightness. No air. There was no air. She opened her mouth, but only the sound of sickening silence echoed in the dizzying void. Gods, why? Why was this happening? The putrid taste of freshwater invaded her mouth, smothering her throat and lungs and stomach as it churned her insides in sickening agony. Drowning. Robin was drowning. The edges of her eyesight were fading into black, fuzziness overtaking her senses. She closed her eyes, lacking the energy to keep them open anymore.

She thought about her mother, whose fleeting presence only served to drive her determination to become as successful as her. She thought about Olivia, the friend she’d been longing for, about how she turned into a sputtering mess at the tip of the hat, about how she flinched from the slightest sign of kindness, yet still she trusted in her. She thought about Stahl, how he’d support her no matter the odds, no matter the craziness her choices ensued, and how he’d do it with that lopsided smile that made her feel like everything would be okay. But most of all, she thought about her brother, how he’d tease her and tousle her hair as he laughed, about all those summer afternoons where they’d play in the forest and watch the clouds at sunset, about how he pushed her to greatness even in times when she doubted herself. She thought about the people she loved. Just as Robin surrendered her consciousness to the abyss, the sudden feeling of warmth wrapped around her body. Then she blacked out.

* * *

_“-obin? Robin?! Robin, please, **wake up!** ”_

The distant sound of someone’s voice pierced through the haze Robin was stuck in, dragging her back to reality. Sputtering, she expelled the freshwater from her lungs, writhing around as the contents of the lake dribbled down the side of her chin. Through half-lidded eyes, the panicked face of Stahl faded into her vision, most of his features obscured by the ever-present blurriness. He was inches away from her, framed by the blue sky above, and stared at her with a level of intensity she never expected to see from him. Robin lifted a hand to touch his cheek, still shaking violently, trying to breathe through her partially closed throat. It was then that she realised he was crying.

“Oh gods, you’re alive, you’re alive…! I thought I was too late, I… I-“ Robin hushed him by putting her hand to his mouth, feeling a few of his tears drop onto her face. Squinting, she willed her eyesight to return to normal, managing to procure a mostly together picture of the boy leaning over her. He was sobbing; she could feel his body shudder uncontrollably from her touch, watching as the drops from his eyes rained down along with the ones from his sopping wet hair. Robin looked to his clouded hazel eyes, red-rimmed and sore, and attempted a smile.

“I…. Mmm… Fff… iinn-nne…” Her voice came out as a quiet, constrained croak as she forced her cold lips to form syllables. Her lungs stung from trying to force the air out. “Thhh… annk… yy… ouuu…” The hand dropped from his face onto her chest. The last thing she saw before her eyes rolled back into her head was Stahl’s broken smile: his attempt to reassure her, even through his tears.

* * *

Robin shot straight up, bolting awake from what felt like an endless nightmare. Panting, she looked down to examine herself, finding that she was, in fact, alive. The clothes she had been wearing previously were replaced with an oversized shirt and loose trousers. After a moment of registering what she went through, she took a deep breath, and reclined back to where she was lying before. She was on a white bed in a white room, which she’d guessed was the nurse’s office, judging from the desk covered in various light-duty medical tools. Robin closed her eyes, sighing in relief that she was back to reality. Was it some crazy dream? Had she really almost drowned…?

“Hey there sleepyhead,” Those questions were instantly answered when Robin opened her eyes and turned to her side to find a sheepish, bleary-eyed Stahl sat on a chair. She froze as the revelations whirred away in her head, her groggy brain trying to process and sort through all the memories. He just smiled, his hair still matted to his head, and moved around to face her. “You know I really thought you were gone for a few moments back there.” His calm expression didn’t change, even as he said it. Heat began to pool in Robin’s cheeks as she wrestled one vital piece of information from her half-asleep mind: Stahl had saved her life.

“Y-you… I… Er… Oh gods, I am _so_ sorry, Stahl, I wasn’t… I just… After I… You looked so _scared…”_ Robin put her hands to her mouth, looking down at the still damp bedsheets. She couldn’t bare thinking about it. Not about how she’d almost died, not about how she saw him cry over her, and definitely not about how she put them through all this for the sake of a stupid, insignificant, half-baked plot to make some guy she barely knew fall in love with her. Jay would’ve been so upset if he found out she’d…

Her sombre thoughts were interrupted by a sudden movement, a feeling of warmth encapsulating her frail frame.

“It’s fine now. You don’t need to worry about a thing… Everything’s fine…” Stahl moved onto the side of the bed and pulled her into an embrace, his arms wrapped around her shaking body and his chin resting on her head. Robin would’ve gasped but she didn’t have the energy. Instead, she rested a cheek on his chest, closing her eyes and feeling the rhythmic rise and fall of his breathing. She felt safe for what felt like the first time in forever. They stayed like that for a long while in complete silence, the only sound that breached Robin’s ears was the steady beat of Stahl’s heart. Eventually, Robin finally decided to speak: a trivial little question that she’d wondered about since the previous Friday.

“Hey, Stahl?” She mumbled into his chest, barely above a whisper, though he hummed in acknowledgement anyway. “What star sign are you?” Another long silence passed. Robin wasn’t sure, but she could’ve sworn that she heard his heart beat get a little faster. He cleared his throat – an action which shook her whole body – and spoke.

“Gemini.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all just got Shyamalan'd.


	6. Graphic Decline

Robin put a hand to her empty shoulder, turning her gaze to her brother and Gaius’ light-hearted conversation. Jay had slung her bag on top of his own that morning in an only half-joking allusion to how the events of the day before may still be tiring her out. To be honest, he wasn’t completely wrong – the dark circles under her eyes served as a reminder of the exhaustion and slight guilt she still held onto. It had been hard for her to sleep; the darkness behind her eyelids reminded her a little too much of the depths of that lake.

Jay had been hysterical with worry when she met him. She had to lean on him the entire way home, wrapped in the coat he’d been ‘borrowing’ from her, as he tried his best to stay silent. He hadn’t wanted to make a scene outside. When they got into the safety of their home, however, he burst.

“What on _earth_ were you _thinking_ , Robin?! Naga’s sake, why the heck were you anywhere _near_ that lake? You _know_ you can’t swim!” His voice was a high, bellowing mess of fluctuating shouts, his face getting redder as he continued. Robin just leaned on the wall in the hallway as she watched him pace across the carpeted floor, running his hands through his pale hair. She was still in a daze from everything that had happened. “What if Stahl _hadn’t_ been there to save you, huh? What would’ve happened _then_?! What would I have done?!”

“Then you’d be planning a funeral for your younger sister.” She muttered, still keeping the coat wrapped around her. Robin averted her gaze from him when he turned to her.

“Yes. Exactly, Robin. I would be,” It stung when he said her name in that tone. She almost winced when he took a step towards her, placing his slightly bigger hands on her shoulders. “I just…” His voice got softer and she felt his grip start to tremble. Robin hazarded a look at his face as he struggled to keep himself together. It was enough to make her own lip quiver. They both stared at eachother with their matching amber eyes. “…I don’t know what I would d-do without you,” His voice caught as the words escaped his mouth. He started crying first, the salty blobs forming streams down his reddened cheeks. He looked like a little kid. “D-don’t _ever_ scare me like th-that again!” Hiccupping, he pulled her into a hug, which Robin immediately reciprocated. Her own tears began rolling down her face, falling onto the fabric of his shirt as she clung to him.

“I p-promise…” Robin’s voice was barely a whisper, forcing the words through her sore throat. “I p-promise.” She repeated, louder this time. He sniffed, nodding as he hugged her tighter, cathartic sobs wracking both of their bodies. Robin had no idea how long they’d stayed like that, but the rest of the evening was filled with her and Jay messing around like they always did. They watched TV together, made dinner together (which just consisted of cheese on toast) and joked about the drama she’d missed that lunchtime: apparently they’d convinced both Henry and Tharja to join their group on the bleachers, though the latter of the two was extremely disappointed when Robin wasn’t present. Jay said she’d looked ready to curse everyone right then and there. After retiring to bed Robin was also met with concerned texts from all her friends, a sentiment that brought a tired smile to her face.

_‘Robin!! Are you okay?? ;m; I heard about everything from Chrom and Jay!!! :c The whole thing sounded so scary! I hope you’re feeling better now, lots of love! xoxoxoxo – Olivia’_

_‘Heard you wiped out big time, lol. That’s what u get for listening to Sunshine’s half-baked predictions, eh, Squeak? …Srsly tho, hope ur ok. – Gaius’_

_‘AHHHHHH ROBIIIIIINN!!! CHROM TOLD ME EVERYTHING :’( r u ok???? Gods it all sounded so awful!! DX Gee they better get rid of that stupid lake now, why the heck was it so deep in the first place? >:( w/e, see u tomorro! – Lissa’_

_‘Fyi I told Chrom that lake was a safety hazard. Also there’s bound to be a lot of germs in there so you should probably drink some orange juice. And get a flu jab. Maybe a tetanus shot for good measure. Seriously. – Frederick’_

She’d laughed when she read them all, a warm fuzzy feeling growing in her chest at all the support. Robin hadn’t even been in this school a month and already everyone cared about her. Pulling up her covers, she was ready to drift off to sleep when another vibration sounded from her phone.

_‘Hey, I think I finally managed to dry off all that lake water, haha! That’s the last time I let you bribe me with lunch. Honestly, there’s still some water stuck in my ears. My hearing’s gonna be messed up for months. Months!’_

Robin had to bite her lip from guffawing at Stahl’s message, turning a wary stare on her clock before tapping out a reply.

_‘That’s a lie and you know it! The moment I offer you a free muffin you’d agree to walk to hell and back in a day! Besides, this whole thing’s gonna make for a great article, huh?’_

A reply shot back to her in a matter of short moments.

_‘Darn, you got me there, haha. Yeah I think I’ll go for the title of ‘Love-struck Helpless Dame Saved Heroically by Dashing and Extremely Handsome Young Man!’ Catchy, huh?’_

Robin was mostly relieved to see that there wasn’t any lingering weirdness between the two of them. She’d then spent the rest of the night texting her olive haired companion until she fell asleep with her phone on her chest, helping her to ignore the nagging fear that crept up on her in the dark.

“So Squeak, as it turns out you’re not a very good mouse, huh?” Gaius’ teasing voice pulled Robin back into the present. The three had almost reached the school gates after her daydreaming. “After all, mice are supposed to be really good swimmers.” Robin had to bite back a laugh as she watched him twirl around a half-eaten lollipop in his deft fingers, fixing her with his piercing emerald eyes.

“So what small rodent does that make me now then?” He put a contemplative hand to his chin, humming in thought as he browsed his mind for a suitable furry pet. Jay interrupted, slinging an arm around Robin’s shoulder.

“How about a hamster? One of those spotted ones with the chubby cheeks.” He poked her face. Quirking a playful eyebrow, she puffed out her cheeks in an attempt to look more hamster-like, beaming as the two boys started to chuckle.

“Yep, okay, that was perfect.” The ginger haired boy grinned, exposing his surprisingly sharp canines. As soon as they stepped through the gates Robin was greeted by a plethora of well-wishers, naturally spearheaded by Olivia. The Feroxi ran up to her and immediately wrapped her arms around Robin in a hug, sobbing upon contact.

“O-oh gods, Robin, you’re o-okay! You’re r-really okay!” Her scarf stopped her from directly crying into Robin’s shirt, the wool itching against the side of her face.

“Yes, Olivia, I’m fine! Do I look dead to you?” Patting her back, Olivia just about managed to pull herself together enough to drag herself away from the girl’s arms. She rubbed her eyes and looked Robin up and down, shaking her head when finally meeting her smiling face.

“I g-guess not…” She sniffed, managing a small ‘v’ shaped smile back, then laughed cheerfully. Robin joined in with her own silly grin.

“Ah! Robin! There you are!” A familiar deep voice sounded from a few paces behind her. Robin turned and was immediately met with the pleasant sight of Chrom bounding towards her, complete with a broad smile and energetic waving. As he passed she noted Jay and Gaius exchange smug smirks out of the corner of her eyes, an action which instantly surged a blush to her cheeks.

“H-hey Chrom!” Robin greeted him as chirpily as she could muster. He came to a stop directly in front of her, panting slightly from the run across the courtyard. His marine hair shone in the early morning sunlight, moving in the slight breeze.

“Came to check if you were okay! I arrived on the scene just after Stahl managed to stabilise you – scary stuff. I had to help him carry you all the way to the nurse’s office,” The image of herself in Chrom’s muscular arms was enough to make her swoon. Chrom glanced around the group, though quickly turned back to her. “But you look perfectly fine now! Er, I mean, not that you didn’t look nice before. Though I suppose you looked slightly less pretty considering you’d almost drowned. You know, hair all messy, arms all limp, tongue sticking out, ha… Not that you could help it! I bet all drowned people look like that! Except they’re dead and, and you’re not so…” Chrom’s face had taken on a curious shade of scarlet, his usually calm cobalt eyes darting about as he continuously fumbled over his words, purposely trying to look anywhere but her. Robin stared on blankly, her flush lost. Everyone was silent. “…I’ve gotta go now.” His voice cracked as he turned on his heel and started briskly walking away. Robin rubbed her eyes, blinking as she watched his figure slowly fading into the distance. Was that… Actually Chrom just then? The school’s perfect, confident Prince Charming? She turned to an equally as confused Jay and Gaius.

“I’ve no idea what just happened.” Her brother shrugged, pushing his glasses more up his nose. That was the first time she’d seen him like that. He was fine talking to her in Film Club and when he came to pick up the newspaper issues, so what caused this sudden change? Robin frowned for a moment at this sudden break in her reality, but she began to beam as she realised something: Chrom had just called her _pretty._ It was awkward and ham-handed, sure, but still, she got complimented by the cutest guy in school! Olivia glanced between them all.

“I-isn’t that how he n-normally speaks?” Robin blinked, turning to her friend.

“…He speaks like that to you too?” The pink haired girl nodded.

“The o-other day when he came to check in on the Crochet Club h-he came over to compliment my pillow,” She elaborated, then paused as she scrunched up her face in an attempt to remember more. “I-I’m not exactly sure what happened, but I th-think in the end he compared me to a ‘cute-but-not-that-cute old hag who uses her magic to make adorable and well-crafted pillows’,” Robin stared at her with a slack jaw, dumbfounded. “He also stressed that it was my pillow that was cute and n-not me. But then said that I was actually cute. Then also s-said that he meant the pillow that I made and not ‘my pillows’…” Olivia went red as she thought about it, pulling her scarf to cover her cheeks. Robin could easily see the boy get flustered around Olivia: her shy awkwardness seemed to rub off on people. Around Robin, though… Gaius sighed and buried his face in his hand.

“What the heck is up with Blue this year?” Robin shook her head then looked around, realising they were lacking a certain blonde haired bundle of joy.

“Hey you guys, where’s Lis… sa…?” At that moment, a girl – who just so happened to be the same height and have the exact same face as Lissa – rolled in through the gate towards them on a… skateboard? The girl stopped in front of the group, dismounting clumsily off her board and picking it up, putting her hands on her hips and puffing out her chest proudly. She wore a bright yellow helmet on her head with matching elbow and knee pads, along with hot pink plasters adorning her face and legs. The usual cute attire that Lissa wore was replaced with ripped denim shorts, a black strapped top and an unbuttoned yellow checked lumberjack shirt. They all stared at her with their mouths wide open. After a few seconds of silent staring, the girl pouted and looked around at all of them.

“What? You guys, it’s me! Lissa! You know, your _friend!”_ An ear piercing screech sounded from just outside the group, causing everyone to divert their attention from the miniature Avril Lavigne in front of them.

“ _Lissa! Darling!_ What _happened_ to you?!” Maribelle rushed in, instantly inspecting the girl and pulling on her pigtails in an attempt to discern where the ‘real’ Lissa was.

“Ouch! Maribelle, cut it out!” The short blonde flailed around, trying to shake the aristocrat’s grip from her hair. Maribelle’s face was a flash of concern and hysteria.

“Dear gods… It actually _is_ her.” The mortified Maribelle slowly let go of her, putting her gloved hands to her mouth as her wide, burgundy eyes surveyed her friend once more. Lissa pulled her helmet around to try and straighten out her pigtails.

“Well of _course_ it’s me! Do you know anyone with this same adorable face?”

“Not one that’s covered in… How on earth did you get hurt?!” Maribelle’s face turned to its usual stern demeanour, her mouth becoming a hard straight line. Lissa went quiet, scratching her neck in a rather sheepish manner and casting her eyes down to her ‘Hello Taguel’ skateboard. The aristocrat’s eyes bored into Lissa’s face, their intensity sending shivers down the spine of the spectators. “You’re not… _Actually_ learning to use that… That stupid piece of wood with wheels, are you?” Lissa turned her nose up defiantly, crossing her arms over the skateboard.

“Well of course I am! And tonight I’m gonna go to the skate park to show off my skills!” Lissa very poorly attempted to do a gang sign. This lulled the surrounding crowd into painful silence. Robin slowly turned back to the face of Maribelle, her mouth agape in a disbelieving scowl. She began a very loud, kind of scary laugh, clutching her stomach as she wiped the tears from her eyes. Lissa stared at her with a small, uneasy frown.

“Y-you _can’t_ be serious, darling! Ha! Lissa you are just _hilariou-“_

“I’m not joking, Maribelle.” Lissa’s voice was unusually cold. Her usual perky, cheery face had now been dulled by the less than welcoming reaction of her friend. Maribelle’s laughing stopped instantly, the perplexed expression returning to her at the interruption. It instantly darkened as Maribelle took a few steps closer to Lissa.

“You’re not… Doing this because of _him,_ are you?” The words came out as a venomous hiss. Lissa’s face slowly started turning pink at the insinuation, her cheeks puffing out in a childish show of rebellion. This was enough of a response for Maribelle’s suspicions to be confirmed. “Lissa I _told_ you, that boy is a _ruffian!_ A-a delinquent little punk who will amount to nothing and instead of doing something _valuable_ with his time spends it all whittling away on his stupid skateboa-“

“No, he _isn’t_ Maribelle!” Maribelle’s eyes went wide. “H-he’s a lonely, misunderstood guy who is pushed to the side and left friendless because of inconsiderate, condescending, prejudiced _airheads_ like _you!_ ” Her high pitched yells had stunned the whole courtyard into silence. Robin had never dreamed to see Lissa so angry, standing on her tip-toes and pointing her finger in Maribelle’s shocked face. Gaius’ lollipop clattered from his mouth onto the tarmac out of astonishment. After she stood for a few seconds in silence, watching the insult sink in to a very bewildered Maribelle, Lissa turned a converse covered heel and stalked off. The aristocrat managed to shake herself from her stunned stillness, taking a few steps after her.

“L-Lissa, wait! Where are you going?!”

_“Away from you!”_ It sounded like she was shouting through some sobs, but it was enough to stop Maribelle in her tracks. Nobody else made a move to follow after her. Olivia, being the first to come out of their collective stupefaction, walked up to the dejected Maribelle and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“C-c’mon Maribelle, let’s go stand b-by the form classes, yeah…?” The blonde turned to the Feroxi blankly, looking very lost. It was enough to make Robin feel kinda bad for her, despite what had just happened. Olivia continued. “W-we can look over some c-crochet patterns! I f-found one on how to make l-little kitten dolls…!” With one last look over her shoulder at the pinprick of yellow across the yard, Maribelle nodded and started walking with Olivia towards the classes.

“If we do, we’ll have to go take a trip into town. We’re running low on cotton stuffing…” She muttered dully to the pink head, mouth barely moving as she stared off into space. The remaining three watched them go, still unable to find the words to react to what had just taken place. Jay finally sighed, taking off his glasses and beginning to rub the lenses with the end of his shirt.

“Looks like we’re in for a hell of a day.”

* * *

Jay was not wrong. According to everyone at break, Lissa and Maribelle had been completely avoiding eachother. However the former seemed to be doing it out of spite, while the latter was doing it out of pure guilt. The entirety of those free twenty minutes consisted of Maribelle sat on a wall in the yard looking completely miserable with only an Olivia for company, while Lissa had vanished somewhere on her own. It was actually beginning to worry everyone. Jay and Gaius were going to talk to Chrom about the whole situation, though Robin highly doubted he’d be able to do anything about his wilful little sister, leaving her alone with Henry and Sumia to talk about various trivial topics that did not involve skateboards or certain brown haired Feroxis.

Finally, lunchtime had arrived. Robin was one of the first to make it to the bleachers today, taking a seat next to Olivia who was still trying to comfort Maribelle. The blonde looked even gloomier than Tharja who’d sat behind her, worried creases in her forehead already beginning to form. It’d only been a couple of hours, for Naga’s sake!

“So… The weather’s nice today.” Jay started, trying to make conversation about anything other than Lissa.

“Yeah, yeah! It’s very… Weathery.” Gaius responded, nodding as he unpeeled another hard boiled sweet. Nobody responded. Robin glanced back at the two who were now wearing desperate, forced smiles as they looked between eachother to think of a better topic. Luckily, a blissfully unaware Stahl appeared to distract everyone.

“Hey hey hey, it’s the knight in shining armour himself!” Jay and Gaius leapt from their seats to greet the boy who cast a sleepy smile to everyone. “Save any more damsels in distress on your way here?” Gaius snuck a smirk over his shoulder to Robin, who just rolled her eyes at their antics.

“Ha, unfortunately not. Unless you count rescuing a bagel from a glass display case.” Stahl chuckled, rubbing the freckles on his nose.

“Noble cause.” Gaius nodded to himself. Just as he was about to make his way to the free seat next to Robin, Stahl paused to look at their line-up on the bleachers. Chrom was sat a few rows back with Vaike and Sully, tapping his foot with a scowl on his face. Sumia and Cordelia were in hushed conversation about something or other, while Frederick, Virion and Henry were finding their way to some free seats. Stahl narrowed his eyes. _Oh gods, please no, Stahl, don’t say it._ Robin silently prayed that he wouldn’t notice.

“Hey, where’s Lissa?” The curse had been broken. Everyone simultaneously let out a deep exhale as Maribelle started sobbing furiously into a lace handkerchief. Jay and Gaius turned to eachother in despair, all their work undone, and Olivia started panicking on how to deal with someone who was crying. Robin slumped down into her chair as Gaius and Jay returned to theirs. “…What happened?” Stahl finally made his way to the seat, whispering to Robin who cast him a tired glance.

“Lissa yelled at Maribelle for trying to control her life and keep her away from her proverbial Romeo,” Stahl stared at her blankly. “Also she’s trying to be Tony Hawk or something.” Robin added, eye twitching as she tried to ignore Maribelle’s hysterical crying. He looked over to the blonde who was now being pelted by tissues that Olivia was pulling out of her bag. It wasn’t helping.

“Should we… Do something?” He half whispered, concern wringing in his voice as Maribelle struggled to pull herself together. Robin sighed heavily and looked at her again, then turned back to Stahl, desperation flashing in her gold eyes as she started shaking his shoulders.

“We _have_ to! We have her for English next and I _cannot_ stand another hour of this!” Stahl’s cowlick swayed as she shook him about, his half-closed eyes scrunched into a contemplative frown. Robin stopped as they heard Maribelle’s loud hiccup.

“I-I’m sorry,” The blonde sniffed, a pile of soggy tissues in hand as she wiped the mascara running down her face. “I-it’s just… Oh gods, what if she _hurts_ herself?!” She started bawling again. Olivia turned to the two, full-blown panic etched into her pleading features. She’d run out of tissues. Patting the girl’s head, Robin took a deep breath and leaned over her to talk to Maribelle.

“Hey, uh, Maribelle?” The blonde sniffed, casting one of her cloudy burgundy eyes to her. Robin managed a very restrained smile. “You’re worried about Lissa, right?” She nodded, covering a whimpering lip with one of her now damp gloves. Robin looked over her shoulder to Stahl who gave her an encouraging smile, then sighed and turned back to Maribelle. “Well… She said she was going to go to the skate park after school. So… We could go there and… Uh… Make sure she’s okay…?” The blonde lit up at that. Robin was pulled back by the shoulder by the hand of a surprisingly strong Stahl.

“Are you sure about that? The last time you tried to stalk someone you almost drowned.” His breath was warm against her ear, a fact she tried to ignore, especially since that was still a sensitive topic. Instead, she raised an eyebrow and whispered back, trying to push down the weird churning sensation in her stomach.

“What else are we supposed to do?! Besides, I’ve already said it now and she’s got that… _Face._ ” Robin and Stahl looked at Maribelle again. She’d lit up and had quickly removed any of the smudged make-up, her typical slightly smug expression pasted across her flawless features. Stahl inhaled deeply next to her.

“ _Crap.”_ While this exchange was going on, Olivia was trying to gather up all the used tissues in the plastic bag she’d brought her sandwiches in. The Feroxi looked relieved beyond words.

“So all three of you shall be coming with me this afternoon then, yes?” They all shared concerned glances at Maribelle’s calm tone. Stahl tried to reason her out, scratching the back of his neck and wearing a slightly nervous smile.

“Do you… Really need all of us to come? I mean, you know where the skate park i-“ The blonde cut him off with a scoff.

“And be seen alone with a bunch of barbarians? No thank you,” She crossed her arms, sticking her nose in the air – an action which caused her curls to bounce. Placing her sharp eyes on both Stahl and Robin, as Olivia was still wrestling with the pile of tissues, a sly smirk grew on her face. “Besides… If anything were to happen to Lissa, I’m going to need evidence. Of the photographic _and_ witness kind.” Robin and Stahl exchanged concerned looks. Turning back to her, Stahl tried to reason with her again.

“But surely if we just leant you a camer-“

“ _In addition_ , if you were to help me out I could rave about how amazing the school newspaper is to everyone I know. If you do not, however… Well, let’s say I know a lot of very _important_ people, here at school. Certainly, it would be a _shame_ for some passing rumour to spread across the student council that would only be resolved by, say… The termination of the Newspaper Club.” She was studying the laced edges of her gloves nonchalantly, not giving them so much as a passing glance. Robin turned to Stahl who was still trying to fumble for words, putting a hand on his arm.

“She’s got us there.” He met her eyes and sighed in defeat, shoulders slumping. Olivia looked up from her tissue filled bag and glanced between them.

“So… Should I bring my camera…?”

* * *

The skate park was surprisingly empty for a Tuesday afternoon. The low-hanging sun illuminated the grey slopes and ramps, casting hues of orange and yellow across the concrete that transformed the ramps into slabs of dull gold. Conveniently for them, a row of bushes and benches adorned the side of the bowl-shaped skating area, which the four of them now sat behind. Olivia was polishing the lens of her camera hung around her neck as Maribelle conspicuously stared at the park. Currently only Lon’qu was there, the sound of wheels on tarmac rolling around in the air. The boy wore a pair of khaki cargo trousers, army boots, an undone grey jacket and a red t-shirt that had some logo Robin didn’t recognise. Stahl sighed, leaning his chin on his hand as he watched the skater boy do a kickflip.

“How much longer is she gonna be?” Robin asked from her spot behind the bench, chewing on a wrap they’d managed to procure on the way there. At her slightly loud tone, Maribelle shot her a scowl, then turned her gaze back to the boy.

“I don’t know! Just keep your obnoxious mouth shut until she shows u-“

“Oh hey there she is.” Stahl pointed out across the street, his sleepy voice cutting through the two girl’s conversation. They all turned to follow his finger, watching Lissa as she clumsily skateboarded over the street to the bowl. Lon’qu, who had been busy building up speed to tackle a ramp, looked up at the sound. Robin could barely see his face from this distance but even she could pick up on the scowl it twisted into. Olivia lifted her camera up to her face in preparation for any incriminating actions, as Maribelle instructed her to do.

“Good afternoon, Lon’qu!” The classic sing-song tone of Lissa pierced their surroundings as she dismounted from her board and began walking her way into the bowl. Lon’qu didn’t make any response – or at least from what Robin could tell – and instead turned his attention back to his skateboard, beginning to build up his momentum again. Lissa frowned slightly at his reaction but, in classic Lissa fashion, instantly turned it back into a smile, getting back on her own board and following suit. She was still shaky on it in a way that suggested she’d only started skating since yesterday, which Robin assumed probably was the case. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Maribelle tense. She leaned back over to Olivia.

“Hey, Liv, Lon’qu, in your old school, he never… Hurt anyone, did he?” The pink head looked up at Robin’s whisper, surprised at the question and shaking her head.

“No. Nobody really bothered him since he looked so… Scary.” She bit her lip, her soft features creasing. This satisfied Robin, turning her attention back to the two. Lon’qu had just jumped off of one of the ramps, spinning his board under him as he went, and landed back on it without a single wobble, continuing to ride it around the concrete. He’d actually looked pretty cool; that way his brown hair swayed with the momentum, the cool, calm expression he wore without even casting a single look down to his feet… Robin could see why Lissa had taken such a shine to him.

“Woah, Lon’qu, that was really cool!” The ecstatic blonde mirrored Robin’s thoughts. Lon’qu, impassive as ever, didn’t respond. Naturally, Lissa didn’t care. “Ha, man, I wish I could do tricks like those, but I can barely land an ollie without almost falling on my butt!” Her joyful laugh echoed off the sloped walls, lightening up the surroundings with her happy tune. For a moment Robin could’ve sworn he turned his head in Lissa’s direction. However, he still didn’t respond. Lissa seemed to take this as a challenge. “No, seriously! See, watch,” She dropped her board to the ground, placing a tentative foot on the nose of it. After making sure that it wouldn’t roll out from under her weight, she placed her other foot on the back of it and attempted a jump with it. She managed to land it okay, but her footing looked very shaky and for a moment Maribelle almost leaped from her spot behind the bushes. Instead, Lissa just laughed as she quickly dismounted from it. “What’d I tell you? A beat later and I’d be splayed out in a broken mess on this concrete!” She tapped her foot on the ground as if to prove her point. Lon’qu didn’t respond, coasting around the side of her with his board.

“Looks like he really doesn’t like her. Poor girl.” Robin mumbled, sighing as she shifted into a more comfortable sitting position.

“Nah, I’d say he cares,” Stahl’s comment pulled Robin’s gaze, quirking an eyebrow at him. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and shrugged. “He hasn’t told her to go away, like I’d wager he would normally. It’s more likely he’s staying silent so she gets frustrated and goes home. Plus when she tried to do that trick he started skating within a shorter distance of her, probably just in case she really did fall.” His usual calm voice delivered the words with an air of lazy confidence. Robin glanced back to the two, suddenly more interested. Lissa evidently didn’t have the same eye as Stahl, made apparent by how she started to tap her foot in impatience. Lon’qu skated on, ignoring her all the same, and delivering another trick: he kicked off his board in a similar fashion to Lissa’s ollie, instead spinning his body around, then putting his feet on the board and flipping it back forward before landing on the concrete.

“Woah.” Olivia’s breathy comment escaped from her mouth, subtly pressing down the button on her camera – luckily with the flash turned off. Below, Lissa was practically jumping up and down on the spot.

“Oh my gods! What kinda trick was that, Lon’qu?” The blonde’s eyes sparkled in the soft sunset lighting, swaying back and forth on her converse. For a few moments there was silence, and for the first time Robin heard the boy’s voice.

“M-80.” His voice was a very low register, even lower than Chrom’s, and easily carried across the park. Lissa was practically beside herself with joy at his answer, grinning from ear to ear. Deciding to press further, Lissa asked him another question.

“Do you think you could show me how to do it?” Robin’s gaze flicked expectantly back to Lon’qu who was currently skating up the side of one of the curved walls of the bowl. A few seconds passed… Then a few more… Then a minute… Silence. She glanced back over at Lissa, who looked positively crestfallen.

“How dare he ignore my little Lissa…!” Maribelle hissed under her breath, gripping the hem of her frilled sundress with slowly escalating ferocity. This frustration resonated with Lissa too, who’d finally had enough of Lon’qu’s cold shoulder.

“Seriously, what the heck is wrong with you? Why do you keep ignoring me like this?” No answer. Lissa’s voice went back to the shrill pitch it had that morning. “Is it because I’m a girl?” A slight flinch from the skater. Lissa practically growled. “It _is,_ isn’t it? Fine! Well I’ll show you that I’m just as good as you, even without much practice!” Oh no. This wouldn’t end well. But it was too late, Lissa immediately jumped on her board and sped off – attempting the same trick Lon’qu had a few minutes earlier and…

“Lissa, _no!”_ It was at this point all four of them burst out from their hiding spot, running over to find a pained Lissa holding her leg as she fell onto the floor. Lon’qu stopped his boarding as soon as he saw, rushing over with them. Maribelle dropped to the floor beside her and put an arm around the girl’s shoulder. “Darling, are you okay?!” Any kind of previous anger Maribelle had shown to her that morning had completely dissipated, leaving only the most genuine of concern in her panicked voice. Lissa opened a pained eye to her friend, teeth grit as she rocked back and forth.

“M-my ankle…” She managed to squeeze out. At that, Stahl leaned down to have a look at her foot. Robin craned over his shoulder. Her ankle, where the top of her shoe exposed, was a bright red colour from where she’d landed awkwardly from her trick.

“This doesn’t look good. My family’s clinic isn’t far from here, we should take you there.” A worried tone wavered Stahl’s voice, looking around the group with a knit brow. Olivia was shaking, clutching her camera in her hands as her violet eyes betrayed her fear. Robin bit back a curse, moving around to Maribelle’s side. She wanted to question about this clinic she hadn’t heard about, but there were more important things to contend with.

“Okay, Stahl, if I pick her up from her shoulders, you get her le-“

“No,” An unexpected gruff voice interrupted her. The three on the floor – Maribelle, Stahl and Robin – looked up at the looming figure of Lon’qu. His face looked intense. When nobody reacted, he addressed them again, though he didn’t attempt to hide his grimace. “I’ll carry her,” Not about to question the scary skater dude, the three moved out of the way. Lissa glanced up at him, confusion and pain scrunching her face. Robin cast a curious glance to Olivia, who shrugged, looking just as surprised as she did. In one deft movement (though she swore she saw Lon’qu tremble), the boy picked Lissa up and pushed her onto his back, holding her legs in a piggy-back formation. Lissa then put her arms around his neck for support. Both of their faces had gone the colour of Lissa’s plasters, Lon’qu looking equal parts fierce and mortified. He turned to Stahl. “Lead.” With that commanding tone, Stahl immediately started walking.

“Lissa, darling, I am so sorry about this morning, but _this_ is the exact reason I didn’t want you coming here.” Maribelle had snatched up both the skateboards in her arms, walking alongside Lon’qu but addressing Lissa. Her face was soft, sadness wringing in her usually scolding tone. Lissa sighed, leaning her head back to look down at her friend.

“I know, Mari, I know… I just… Really wanted to do this, okay? You’re always running around after me and telling me ‘not to do this, don’t do that’ and, I… I just wanted some freedom to do what I wanted,” The blonde smiled tiredly, making her look a little older. “Even if what I wanted to do _was_ stupid.” Maribelle laughed weakly at her, her eyes beginning to water slightly as she sniffed.

“I’m sorry… Just… I’ll promise not to coddle you as much anymore, as long as you d-don’t hurt yourself like this again, okay?” Maribelle reached out and Lissa gave her one of her hands, both sharing warm smiles as a few drops of tears rolled down Maribelle’s painted cheeks. Lon’qu was keeping his gaze purely on his feet. Regardless, the two girls seemed to have reached some sort of agreement, a sight which finally let Robin relax.

“All’s well that ends well, I suppose.” Robin yawned, stretching her arms as they walked. Olivia nodded fervently, a slight bounce in her step now that her friend had stopped bawling on her shoulder, and gave her a gracious smile.

“Too bad it took Lissa injuring herself to get the two to make up,” Stahl’s voice cooed from in front of her, keeping it to a volume so the two girls in question didn’t hear. Coming to a stop in front of a quaint, two story clinic, Stahl turned around and gestured them all inside with a sleepy grin. “Alright, you guys stay out here when we get her sorted out. Lon’qu, Lissa, come with me.” The olive haired boy went ahead inside, holding the door open for the two. Lissa waved to Maribelle as she ducked her head under the doorway, smiling. After she was sure the three were out of earshot, Maribelle slumped against the outside wall, scowling.

“If that boy so much as lays a finger on her…!” She crossed her arms, glaring at the door and dropping the two’s skateboards by her feet. Robin rolled her eyes, playfully punching the side of Maribelle’s arm.

“Relax, Lon’qu seems like a nice guy. Besides, it’s a little late for that, considering he’s already literally laid more than a finger on her.” Maribelle shot her the smallest semblance of a glower, but it quickly fizzled away as she sighed.

“…Right. I suppose I’ll just have to trust yours and Lissa’s judgement,” A small, slightly devilish smile tugged at the side of her dainty lips. “And if you’re wrong… Well, I can always fall back on _other_ means to get the boy… Out of her way.” Something about the edge of glee in her tone made Robin wary, but she figured it was just best to smile back at her and nod. The sound of a click distracted both of the girls, turning to see Olivia beaming down at the picture she’d just taken on her camera. Before she could ask any questions, Stahl walked back out of the clinic doors with Lon’qu and Lissa in tow – the latter on a pair of crutches and what looked like a splint with a few bags of ice wrapped around her foot. Despite this, the girl was beaming broadly, probably because Lon’qu was actually walking within arm’s reach of her in case she fell over.

“Nothing too bad, luckily. Just a bruised bone. It’ll heal after a while as long as she doesn’t put too much pressure on it.” Stahl explained with his usual lopsided smile, his calm expression dampening any worries the girls may have had. Maribelle went to fuss over Lissa all the same, though the relief emanating from the posh blonde was palpable. Spying another photo opportunity, Olivia picked up her camera and called to the group.

“S-smile!” They all turned to her and managed a happy expression – apart from Lon’qu but Robin doubted he was physically capable of showing emotion – as she clicked the button. Lissa turned to everyone, swaying on her crutches in a way that made Lon’qu visibly uncomfortable, and beamed.

“We should do this again sometime! But maybe with a little less stalking me from the bushes.” The four shared slightly guilty looks, Robin scratching the back of her neck.

“Lissa, if you tried to skateboard again you’d probably end up in the same sprawled out position.” Lissa puffed out her cheeks indignantly at the following light laughter. She opened her mouth to respond but paused as Lon’qu cleared his throat, attracting the attention from everyone stood around. He was staring at his feet.

“…You’re not as… Terrible as… Most girls,” He started, his ever-present scowl steeped in crimson. Robin tried to ignore the subtle jab. “…After your foot gets better… I could… teach you,” They all stared in shocked silence as the Feroxi kicked his foot, hands buried in his pockets. “How to skateboard.” He finished with a grumble, not daring to look up. Lissa’s face practically shot sunbeams.

“ _Really?!_ Lon’qu, you mean it?!” The boy nodded. Lissa let out an ear-piercing screech of happiness, practically falling off her crutches as she leaped over to give the boy a hug. Lon’qu froze, regret instantly twisting his stern face. Robin laughed at the two, casting a glance at Maribelle who – surprisingly – didn’t look ready to kill the boy. She actually seemed almost… Glad? Robin elbowed Stahl, who was also chuckling at Lissa’s jolly antics.

“See, everything turned out fine!” He gave her a small, relieved smile, shrugging and running a hand through his messy hair.

“Yeah, looks like it. It was kinda painful to see those two fighting all the time… And hey, we managed to solve it all without having one of us almost drown!” Stahl moved to ruffle Robin’s silver hair, biting back a laugh. She rolled her eyes, dragging them away from the boy and instead looking to Olivia, who was busy taking pictures of Lon’qu and Lissa.

“Don’t push it, Mr ‘Knight in Shining Armour’.” Robin crossed her arms, leaning back on her heels as she watched the happy scene; a contented warmth rising in her chest at the sight of her friends’ smiling faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He was a boy. She was a girl. Can I make it any more obvious?
> 
> Thanks for the support from: Fantasmagorie (I hope you continue to enjoy my silly writing xD), logithecat (glad to see you're still enjoying it :D) and gumdropdead (which btw is an awesome screenname)
> 
> Btdubs guys, cherish the heart-warming cheesy chapters like this; The Angst shall be upon us soon >:U  
> ALSO if you lot have any suggestions for a pairing for Jay then I'd really appreciate it! I've no idea what to do with the poor guy. It doesn't have to be someone who's already here (as I will eventually introduce all of the characters) so if you have a Burning Urge for a pair, please tell me xD


	7. In Circulation

Leaning back in her slightly uncomfortable plastic seat on the bleachers, Robin surveyed this week’s newspaper. It was now Monday, and the current edition was selling well – a positive trend Robin had been keeping a very close eye on over the past couple of weeks. The paper was in a good spot and it only seemed to sell more and more in each passing iteration. Luckily, the rest of last week passed without any problems, leading to a smooth and good quality issue of _‘Ylisse Now!’_

In the end Stahl had, in fact, run the story of Robin almost drowning (although he changed the title) to help kick-start a petition to fence off the offending lake area. It seemed to be receiving quite a bit of support from the student populace, and Chrom had already commented that it may be brought up at the end of the week’s student council meeting. The rest of the paper was as good as usual: Lissa’s graphic designs were as poppy and eye-catching as ever, Tharja’s horoscopes had been getting a lot of praise (though Robin was now ‘banned’ from reading them), Olivia’s pictures only ever seemed to increase in quality and Sumia’s poetry column was as solid as ever, though this week she opted to write a poem about flowers instead of birds. There was one thing that confused Robin, though.

“What the heck is this week’s Hubba article about?” She turned to the small group gathered on the bleachers who didn’t have a club to attend this lunch. Next to her Stahl was barely struggling to keep himself awake, one eye almost fully closed as he tried to stop himself from nodding off. It didn’t help that he was halfway through eating a cookie, leaving random specs of crumbs dotted all over his face. Gaius slid in behind her, eyebrows raised.

“Wotcha mean, Squeak? Seemed pretty standard to me.” Tossing a bunch of pop rocks in his mouth, he moved his face uncomfortably close to hers just to annoy her with the sound of popping candy. He grinned, opening his mouth to further increase the volume of the sweet cacophony. Robin pushed his face away, picking up the paper and pointing to the column.

_‘To Old Hubba,_

_Hey! So… I’m writing in to ask about. Um. A certain event. Okay, so… There’s this whole thing coming up where you can, uh, ask someone as a date. To. Attend with you. And there’s this one specific guy I have in mind… But I think it may be a bit weird? See, uh, I’ve known him for… Basically since when we were kids! But I really like him, so, I don’t really know what to do! I’ve no idea what he thinks of me, so I’m not sure if he’ll be on board with it! I just… Want to spend this with him, you know? Please help!_

_Thanks, Pushing-Up-Petals’_

_‘Hey, Pushing-Up-Petals!_

_Ah, I see the issue. It can always be a bit awkward and nerve-wracking asking for a date, especially true if you’ve no idea what the other person’s feelings are. Plus with the whole best friend angle there’s a chance it could skew your relationship in a weird direction. My advice? Ask him anyway! But ask him to go as friends. That should eliminate any awkwardness and, if the evening goes well, you may be able to see whether he likes you back – or if you’re just better off as friends. Thanks again for writing in, I hope your Friday goes well!’_

Gaius kept an eyebrow raised, pushing around the slowly dissolving sweets in his mouth with his tongue. Lissa and Tharja popped their heads up behind him, turning their attention to the column. The blonde quickly turned back to Robin, leaning back and forth on the pair of crutches she held under her arms.

“Oh! That’s about the dance this Friday!” Robin stared blankly at her, the girl’s pale face slowly turning into a confused scowl. “…Uh, didn’t anybody tell you?” She shook her head. Tharja quickly took this opportunity, grasping Robin’s undefended hands that were previously holding the paper. Gaius had to duck out of the way to avoid being shoved aside by the Goth’s approach.

“Perfect. That means you don’t have a date, correct? Robin, I think both you and I know that no one can truly match your brilliance,” Tharja’s hands were unsettlingly cold against Robin’s skin, her concerned frown quickly twisting into a wide eyed stare as she began getting increasingly more uncomfortable. “None of the morons here would be a suitable… Companion. Except for me, of course.” The girl let out her demonic giggle, leaning closer to her with a worrying smile. Wrenching herself free, Robin rose from her seat.

“First of all, Tharja, no,” She deflated, crossing her arms and returning a disappointed pout. “Second of all… There’s a dance? A proper one? …Even though it’s, like, barely October?” The three nodded, acting like this was completely normal.

“Yeah! There’s loads of events going on all the time, for example,” Lissa awkwardly juggled one of her crutches to the side to free one hand and held out her fingers, beginning to count them down as she listed off all the school’s various campaigns. “There’s the dance Friday, then at the end of the month it’s mine and Chrom’s annual Halloween party,” She slipped into a Romanian accent for that one, making spooky fingers to accentuate the import of the Halloween party. “Then in mid-November it’s the school festival – where there’s fireworks, dancing and food – and then towards the end of December it’s the Ylissean Winter Games!” Counting off her four fingers, Lissa grinned and propped back down onto her seat, bouncing her bandaged foot. Letting it all sink in, Robin tapped her chin in thought. This was a very busy place – as it was, Lissa only listed off the events that applied to the whole school. It sounded like a lot of fun, sure, but more importantly…

“Dance, huh? Sounds like the perfect opportunity for some classic teenage drama,” Robin’s face erupted into the Finch grin, devious plans whirring around in her head as the onlooking Gaius and Lissa exchanged a mildly concerned glance. “Just think of it: all the T-rated shenanigans, all the drama and heartbreak that may ensue just by a single act on the dancefloor… _And the couples._ Man, I could probably fill a whole issue with that kinda stuff…” She trailed off, furrowing her brow. “I could totally fill a whole issue with that kinda stuff.” Robin turned to the dozy Stahl, poking his face until he regained some semblance of consciousness.

“Muh…? Robin…? Is it time for class yet?” He yawned, stretched his arms, then suddenly realised he still had half a cookie and threw it in his mouth. Turning to her, he rubbed a bleary eye.

“No, not yet. But seriously, this dance thing on Friday? We are going to make _all_ of this week’s issue on it,” Her golden eyes shone just thinking about it, waving her hands in an arcing formation above her head as she said it. A twelve page spread filled to the brim with juicy gossip: the perfect bait for a teenage demographic. Robin looked between the doubtful gazes of Lissa, Gaius and Stahl. “What? We could get pictures and stories of some of the couples going… Ooh, maybe we could have a vote in the week after for who the best pair is!” Lissa actually looked excited at that. She leaned forward between Robin and Stahl, looking at the girl with wide, hopeful eyes.

“Really, you’d do that?! That’d be so cute…!” The blonde zoned out, her mind preoccupied with another thought that just popped into her head, then squealed as she fell back and started punching the air. “Oh man, oh man, oh man! I _have_ to be in that issue! Now if my date would hurry up and ask me…” Lissa’s voice dropped to a grumble as she crossed her arms over her chest. Robin didn’t have to guess at who she was talking about.

“But… Then it’d just be me and you writing it. Plus since most of the material we’d be getting on Friday, like Olivia’s pictures, we’d have to make it all by Sunday and give it to Chrom to copy for Monday…” Stahl frowned sleepily, scratching his head. He didn’t seem to be looking forward to the amount of work this would land him in.

“We’ll just have to work super hard all day on Saturday. As long as we get a lot of notes down on Friday night – and we interview some of the couples before the dance itself – we’ll be fine!” Robin grinned, putting her hands on her hips and puffing her chest out, determination shining from her excited face. It was then that Gaius interjected.

“But Squeak, if you’re spending the whole of the dance writing notes and… Stalking couples or whatever it is you newspaper sleuths do, then you won’t have any time for. Y’know. Dancing,” He kneeled behind her seat, placing his chin on the top of the plastic, nudging her shoulder. Robin deflated at his matter-of-fact tone, looking to his leafy cat-like eyes. “And – now correct me if I’m wrong – but I’m sure there’s a certain _someone_ that you’d be dying to dance with.” Gaius turned his eyes to the field below. Robin followed his gaze to see the Track and Field Team running about the white lines. Forefront was Chrom, as per usual, shouting unintelligible words of encouragement to his fellow teammates. Robin slid down more in her seat, her heart sinking with her. Sure she’d give anything to go with him to the dance, but… Well, first of all, the odds of her actually plucking up the courage to ask him were abysmal. Secondly, the odds of him saying yes were even more questionable. And thirdly… She didn’t have a choice: she had to keep her priorities in check, and unfortunately the newspaper had to rank above boys.

“I… He’ll just have to go with someone else.” The words stung on her lips, a feeling of all-encompassing dread settling in above her. There were bound to be many girls who liked him as well; that thought alone was enough to tear a fissure in her chest. Gaius’ face betrayed the slightest hint of sympathy for a moment, then he stood to his feet.

“Mighty responsible of you. Well, you’ll be at least happy to hear that I’ve got a lead for your first couple.” He smirked, a strawberry flavoured lollipop materialising out of nowhere. Robin shot up, leaving her feeling of dejection behind as she stood to attention.

“Really?” Her voice shot up an octave – an action that made the ginger boy chuckle.

“Yep, lookee here.” Gaius turned and gestured to the two girls behind him that she hadn’t really paid attention to: Sumia and Cordelia. The brunette held a flower in her hands, plucking at the petals one by one.

“He’ll say yes… He’ll say no… He’ll say yes… He’ll say no…” The girl was covered in a field of petals, along with the bare stems of her previous victims. Cordelia looked almost ready to slap the girl judging from the blatant look of irritation displayed on her beautiful features. Stahl followed suit and turned to look at the two. “Oh gods, this one says he’ll say no! How can I bring myself to ask him now?!” Sumia wailed, dropping the empty stem onto her lap and burying her face in her hands. Cordelia tapped a finger impatiently on the top of the seat.

“Sumia, please. Those childish flower petal fortunes mean absolutely nothing. You’re being silly.” The redhead had a very brisk, stern voice that rolled sharply off her tongue. Robin hadn’t really interacted with the head girl before. To be honest, her level of perfection was kind of intimidating. Robin exchanged a curious glance between the two.

“Something up, Sumia?” She looked up at Robin’s question, rubbing her runny nose as she continued to despair.

“I w-wanted to ask henry to the dance – as friends! – but there’s no way he’ll say yes…!” Sumia choked a sob, pulling anxiously on one of the stems. Everyone else who wasn’t Sumia stared at her blankly.

“Uh, why wouldn’t he say yes?” Sumia frowned at the question, looking between all of them. She went to open her mouth, then closed it again, then repeated this until she looked like the human equivalent of a fish.

“Because… Beeecaaauuuse…” The brunette tried to reason it out, frowning as she looked for a good reason. She shot up, clicking her fingers. “Because I just tore apart all the flowers he gave me!” Robin looked at the mess of petals she’d created and grimaced.

“Doesn’t mean he’ll reject you. Henry’s a reasonable, if slightly insane, guy. Maybe if you got him some flowers he’d be more likely to agree. He does seem to like those things a lot.” The unexpected contribution of Stahl lifted up Sumia’s head. Robin cast a sideway glance at the boy, who was leaning his chin on his hand as he watched the situation. Sumia quickly got up from her spot on the bleachers, sending a flurry of yellow petals as she went, and clenched her hands into fists. Cordelia almost fell back from the suddenness of it.

“You’re right! All I need to do is buy him a bunch of flowers, man up, and ask him! Yeah! I’m sure he’ll have forgotten how I fell on that flower patch when I went to visit him in Gardening Club the other day! Or how I dropped that sandwich he got for lunch on Thursday into a puddle! Or how I accidentally scared that bird away that he was feeding on Friday!” The girl grabbed her bag and ran past them before she could actually reflect on what she’d just said, almost tripping up on her way down the steps, and tore off in some random direction. Robin had no idea where exactly she was going to get flowers at this time of day. More than that, she wondered whether they’d actually survive the journey to Henry in that girl’s hands.

“Well, that settles that. You better be writing this down, Squeak – there’s the story of how your first couple agreed to go together to this dance.” Gaius leaned over and ruffled Robin’s hair, chuckling as he did. She just prayed he hadn’t stuck a piece of candy in there. At that, Stahl pulled a notebook out from his pocket and began writing. Sighing, Robin turned her attention to the rest of the group. Cordelia was regarding them curiously, seeing as the one person she was talking to had just left. Robin met her gaze and the two shared a weirdly uncomfortable moment.

“So, Robin, if you won’t go to the dance with me, since you’re busy and all… How about we go dress shopping together?” This moment was then thankfully interrupted by Tharja, who crept in at a weirdly close distance once more. She was doing that creepy doll-like smile again.

“You don’t exactly seem like the type who likes shopping, Tharja.” Robin cocked an eyebrow at the image of the Goth running around town with piles of Hot Topic bags. The girl scoffed.

“Well, normally, no. But for you…” She began blushing, which was apparent even through the layers of thick white foundation. “We’d have to spend a lot of time together, in those small… Cramped… Changing rooms… Who knows what could happen…?” Tharja started laughing, a sound that chilled Robin’s blood. Especially considering what she’d just suggested. 

“…I’m not really sure about tha-“

“You’re not already going shopping with anyone else, are you? It’s not Olivia is it? Or your brother? I can always be your replacement if something… Untoward… Were to happen to them.” The creases under her dark eyes sharpened, giving the girl an even more terrifying appearance than usual. She was practically inches away from Robin’s own face at this moment.

“…You know what? On second thoughts, maybe I will go shopping with you.” It was enough to make her wipe her brow in relief as Tharja relented, leaning back with a seemingly contented smile appearing across her face. Gaius, who had backed up a mile at the development, finally retreated back to where he was standing before.

“Great. Thursday, after school. Me. You. Shopping.” Tharja grinned – which was basically an oxymoron – and sat down on her seat, pulling out her phone and beginning to tap out something. The ginger boy turned to Robin and looked genuinely remorseful at her predicament.

“Hey, Cordelia, who are you going to the dance with?” Lissa’s chirpy voice broke through the tension. Both Robin and Gaius turned to the two, as Stahl was still busy writing in his notebook. Robin had no doubt that Cordelia could get any guy she possibly wanted: she was, in the most literal sense of the word, perfect. Head girl, beautiful face, the ideal body shape and not to mention extremely intelligent. Yeah, there was no doubt she’d be any guy’s dream girl. A pit of jealousy almost threatened to form in Robin’s chest, but she immediately quashed it. Putting Cordelia in this week’s issue with whoever her date was seemed like a good idea. The girl smiled; a forced expression, yet it somehow still fit wonderfully on her face.

“Me? Aha… Um, a few have asked, but I’m not going with anyone yet.” Robin’s shoulders slumped a little at her response. Climbing over a few seats to Cordelia’s row, Gaius plopped herself next to the girl, twirling his lollipop. He had that distinctly feline smirk.

“Aw, Cordy, you gonna be all alone? Heh, maybe if you’re lucky I’ll be able to provide you with a dance or two. You know, when I’m not being hounded by my soon-to-be harem of women.” The teasing came out as a purr, though Cordelia just scoffed and turned away.

“Gaius, you need to work on your manners. If you end up showing to the dance in the state that you’re dressed like now… Well, I’d doubt it if your harem could even reach the sum of one girl.” She raised a finely pointed eyebrow at him as she delivered the scolding. Gaius just whistled and put an arm around the back of her seat, shrugging.

“Whatever you say, Mother.” Lissa swayed back and forth on her crutches, looking over to the field for a few moments, before turning back to Cordelia.

“Are you going to ask him?” Cordelia froze at the innocent question that escaped the blonde’s mouth. Stahl paused from his writing, looking up at Cordelia to see her reaction. The girl had gone crimson, almost the colour of her hair, and lost the usual confident gravitas she possessed. She fiddled with the hem of her skirt and licked her lips, managing an awkward half-smile as she attempted to answer Lissa. Robin had now become extremely interested in what was happening. Did the head girl have some sort of… Unrequited Crush? This was big news.

“I… I may try. Um. I mean, the last few times I’ve choked, but…” Her voice trailed off. Gaius had directed his attention to the sky, finding the clouds far more interesting than the current conversation. Cordelia nodded to herself, looking up with a fierce fire of resolve blazing in her red eyes. “This time, I’ll do it. I’ll ask him!” In the corner of her eye, Robin caught Stahl cast a lingering stare at the redhead – was that a frown? – but in a moment it was gone, and he returned to his note making. Lissa smiled at the girl. Enthralled by this sudden development, Robin leaned over the back of her chair, grinning at the head girl.

“So? Who’s the lucky guy? I need to know. For newspaper purposes.” She caught Cordelia’s gaze, who smiled almost shyly in return. Lissa went unusually quiet.

“Chrom, of course!” …What. She must’ve misheard. Robin’s grin faltered slightly. The atmosphere around her suddenly got very still.

“…Sorry, who? Could you r-repeat that please?” The question came out very stunted. Cordelia frowned in confusion at being asked to repeat herself.

“You know. Chrom? Head boy, Mr Perfect, dark blue hair, dashing smile…?” Robin felt like her very reality had been splintered. The dread that had only momentarily bothered her earlier now collided into her gut with a blow that was enough to knock the breath from her. She was suddenly drowning in a sickening sense of envy. This was _Cordelia._ Head girl. The Miss Perfect to Chrom’s Mr Perfect. There was absolutely no way that Robin could possibly win against her. Robin’s mouth suddenly felt like it had been stuffed with cotton balls, any moisture that once lingered had now evaporated with Cordelia’s confession. The redhead returned her confused stare, but in that very same moment, realisation flashed in her face. Cordelia’s face morphed from bewilderment into something akin to pure, unadulterated contempt. It was almost malicious. A shudder ran down Robin’s spine as she held her stare. She knew. “You…” Cordelia started. “… _I’m_ going to ask Chrom.” It was a statement that brooked no argument. Robin could only nod dumbly as she sank back into her seat, turning to face forward and staring out into the field where Chrom was still running his laps. Right. It made no difference, anyway. Robin couldn’t bring a date. She needed to get over that awful feeling that clung to her abdomen; it was just a dance, one that she would not be going to with Chrom.

* * *

Robin didn’t sleep very well that night. Tossing and turning, she tried to fight off the sensation of unwarranted rejection that seeped into her chest. Flashes of those two beautiful figures drifting in a loose embrace were gouged into her eyelids, making her stomach churn and crawl in anxiety. She was almost thankful that she was suddenly jerked awake.

Rubbing her eyes, she glanced out over her still dark room, the glowing red lines of her digital clock the only things illuminating the black that clung to her surroundings. It said it was five a.m. Robin sat up, kicking the suffocating duvet from her body. It wasn’t even light outside yet, judging from the lack of sunlight shining in behind her thin curtains. Why did she wake up? Did her nightmare finally snap her into consciousness? These questions were almost immediately answered by the brisk sound of knocking coming from the front door downstairs. Slinking out of bed, Robin quietly made her way down the carpeted stairs, trying to get to the door before their impatient visitor woke Jay up. Robin stifled a yawn as she finally reached the door, brushing some of her messy hair out of her face in a lazy attempt to look half-decent. It was probably just the postman, anyway. Sighing, she opened the door.

“…Gaius?” The ginger haired boy stopped mid-knock. He was fully dressed, seemed completely unbothered by the fact the sun had just barely started rising, and was looking at Robin’s pink, fluffy ‘Hello Taguel’ pyjamas in a mixture of curiosity and bemusement. Suddenly feeling very self-conscious, she crossed her arms over her chest, trying her best to look disapproving despite the pink rising to her cheeks. “Wh-what are you doing here? School doesn’t even open until half eight!” Tearing his gaze away from the friendly visage of smiling bunnies, he met Robin’s golden eyes with a small smirk.

“Got up early and decided I wanted a walk. Then I got hungry. So I came here,” He rubbed his reddened nose with a fingerless gloved hand, looking over Robin’s shoulder as she tried her hardest to scowl through the slowly encroaching crimson of her face. Gaius flicked his eyes back to her. “So you gonna let me in Squeak or what? I ain’t getting any younger here.” Robin bit the inside of her cheek in mild annoyance, but still stepped back to let him in. He advanced past her without another look, heading straight to the kitchen with a purposeful gait. Closing the door, Robin followed after him.

“We have a box of microwavable porridge if you’re that hungry. We’ve ran out of anything good to put on it though,” Entering the kitchen, Robin saw the boy rummaging through their cupboards. “Wha- hey! Stop that!” Dodging around the various pieces of furniture, she tried in vain to quieten the noise Gaius was creating.

“Porridge is a no-go. You guys never have anything good here.” Completely ignoring her, the boy pulled out a mess of bowls and cooking equipment and clattered them onto the counters. Robin scowled. She didn’t recall him ever coming over for food before.

“Then why the heck are you tearing our cupboards apart?” She kept her voice to a forced whisper. Tossing her a passing smirk, Gaius put back most of the stuff he’d pulled out, closing the cupboard as quietly as he could muster as he gestured to the things he’d kept out.

“Today’s your lucky day, Squeak. I’m going to treat you to some of my delicious homemade pancakes.” Grabbing the weighing scale set off to the side, he started unfurling the bag of flour. Robin just stared at him incredulously. The image of Gaius baking was not a sight she ever expected to see.

“Y-you _cook?”_ He tried his best not to laugh at her high-pitched squeaking, instead pouring out the white powder and pausing every so often to check the scale.

“Yep. One of the most cherished members of our own Cooking Club, in fact. Lemme tell you, my honey cakes are to _die_ for,” Seemingly pleased with the measurement, Gaius poured the flour into the large glass bowl he’d procured from one of their cupboards. “Do me a favour, Squeak, can you grab me an apron?” He turned to her, eyebrows raised expectantly. Robin shut her mouth which had previously been hanging open, finding it difficult to process the information he’d just given her. He leaned down and poked her forehead. “He-llo, anybody in there? Crivens, you are the worst assistant.” Shaking her head, Robin managed to pull herself out of her daze.

“Uh, a-apron, got it.” She turned around and walked to the other side of the room as Gaius went to the sink to wash his hands. Pulling the kitten emblazoned apron from the nearby coat hook, Robin glanced back over at him. This was… Weird. She wasn’t hallucinating from lack of sleep, was she? Or maybe it was a dream. It was pretty unbelievable to see Gaius merrily whistling as he wiped his wet hands on a tea towel, looking over at her with a complacent half-smirk pasted on his sharp features. He was supposed to be the rebellious rogue type, right? Yeah, he liked sweets, but Robin was pretty sure that following in the footsteps of Mary Berry did not fit into his character archetype. Cautiously, she walked towards him and offered up the feline infested piece of clothing.

“Thanks. Now make yourself useful, Squeak – grab some eggs and milk from the fridge. Oh, and wash your hands. Don’t think you’re gonna get a pancake just because you’re letting me use your kitchen, you gotta work for your breakfast.” Donning the apron, Gaius gave her a cheeky wink, then turned to grease a frying pan he’d found. Still mildly shell-shocked, Robin turned to the fridge and did as he said. There was no way around it; that boy was, in fact, the ginger haired candy tycoon who she knew and sometimes tolerated.

“Uh, we only have semi-skimmed milk. That okay?” She plopped the ingredients down next to his workspace then turned to the sink.

“Yup, it’s exactly what we need. Finish greasing that pan while I work my magic,” Gaius cracked his knuckles, grabbing a whisk in one hand and an egg in the other. Taking the pan and greasing paper, she turned to watch what Gaius was doing. He deftly cracked the egg one-handed on the side of the glass mixing bowl, then pulled the shell apart with his fingers as the contents dribbled into the middle of the pile of flour. Tossing the shell to the side, he started whisking the mixture energetically. It was impressive, actually; the whisk moved in a silver blur, whipping up the egg-flour mixture into a yellowish paste within a matter of seconds. Gaius stopped momentarily, wiping off a bit of mixture on his face that had flecked up from the bowl. He caught Robin’s surprised expression and made his feline grin. “Didn’t think a guy like me could be good at this stuff?” She snapped out of it, looking to the boy and managing a small smile.

“Uh. Well. No.” Robin answered simply. Gaius just shrugged, pouring in a bit of milk into the mixture as he started to whisk again.

“That’s what you get for underestimating me, Squeak,” He glanced up from the mixture, flicking a bit in her direction. It landed right on the end of her nose. “And _that’s_ for zoning out on your pan greasing duties.” Robin couldn’t help but grin at Gaius’ playful antics. Turning back to her ‘pan greasing duties’, she watched him continue to create the pancake batter through the corner of her eye. They fell into comfortable silence as he kept whisking away, eventually finishing the mixture and stepping back, wiping his hands on the apron.

“We done?” Robin had to fight back a yawn, glancing to the window to see a few slivers of sunlight leak in from the outside world.

“Nope. We gotta let it chill for about thirty minutes. _Then_ comes the fun part.” He tapped the end of the whisk on the side of the bowl, letting a few bits of batter ooze off. Robin leaned back on the countertop, a position which Gaius soon joined her in. She snuck glances at him curiously every so often, a nagging suspicion playing up in her chest.

“So… Did you not have pancake ingredients at your house?” She swore she saw him flinch, but he easily played it off by stretching his arms and not meeting her gaze.

“We probably did. I just didn’t wanna go back to check. You guys, however, are always stocked up since I’m pretty sure neither of you know what an oven is.” The ginger boy snickered, scratching his neck. Robin furrowed her brow. Her inner reporter told her that he wasn’t telling the whole truth.

“You don’t exactly seem like the type who likes sharing. If you cooked at your house then you wouldn’t have to give any of your pancakes to me.” She pushed further. Gaius turned to her and fixed her with an uncharacteristically intense stare, his lips downturned into a frown. Robin met it with her own level of intensity. They had what could be described as a mini staring contest for about a minute, but eventually Gaius relented and sighed. Pulling himself onto the edge of the countertop, he clicked his tongue.

“Alright, alright. You got me,” He propped his chin on his knuckles, addressing her directly. Robin met his leafy eyes with an excited smile, pulling herself next to him. “My ma kicked me out this morning. I think she was drunk. She’ll probably be better after school, but I figured I’d stay out of her way for a while until she sobers up,” Robin frowned, looking up at Gaius and reaching out a compassionate hand to his shoulder. Gaius turned away from her empathetic display, choosing instead to look at the bowl of pancake batter. “It’s really no big deal. You don’t need to give me those sad puppy eyes, Squeak.” He mumbled.

“But Gaius, that’s… Terrible! How could your mum do that to yo-“

“Hey, don’t go judging _my_ mother when yours isn’t even around. Leaving two helpless kids to look after themselves all the time? That’s not exactly the ideal parent either.” Robin blinked, taking her hand back in shock at Gaius’ snap. He turned to her, his eyes transforming into piercing emerald daggers as Robin tried to think of a response.

“B-but… That’s just because she’s away working!” She sat up, brows knit in defiance. What the heck made him turn so quickly? That was completely uncalled for. Gaius just snorted.

“Right. Of course. What kind of lame excuse is that? What could possibly be more important than looking after her kids? At least my ma’s there when I come home.” He pushed himself off the counter, walking over to check on the batter.

“Sh-she’s travelling the world, recording the top stories of the century! As we speak she’s in Valm, researching about the new political reformation: a scoop someone only as accomplished as her could dream of!”

“Is that why you’re so fixated on your newspaper? Hoping that one day you’ll hit it big so you can step out of your absent mama’s shadow?” Gaius turned to her, bristling. “What kind of pathetic dream is that, Robin? Think your future’s gonna be handed to you on a silver platter just ‘cus of your legacy? Well, guess what, that’s not how it works. So climb down from that stupid pedestal you’re stuck on and join us rats in the gutter. So maybe you can watch me as I get buried under the grime because _life doesn’t care about what you want!”_ Robin stood still, thunderstruck. She was about to shout back some fiery retort, but stopped as she saw Gaius wiping the tears from his cheeks.

“Gaius…?” Robin dropped from the counter, approaching him cautiously as he desperately rubbed his eyes.

“I-I’m fine. I’m fine. S-sorry, that… I’m sorry, Squeak. I d-didn’t mean that. Any of it.” He covered his face with his hands, his shoulders rising and falling as he took deep breaths.

“Hey, it’s… No big deal,” A small smile played on her lips as she repeated his same words. “People say silly things when they’re upset. I get it.” She reached up and patted his head, relieved as Gaius finally pulled down his hands. His eyes were still a bit bleary.

“Yeah, well just… Ignore all of that. Crivens, this week just keeps going from bad to worse. And it’s only Tuesday.” Gaius sniffed, scowling to himself. Robin withdrew her hand and put it behind her back, raising an eyebrow in piqued curiosity.

“Something up?” He turned his eyes to her, studying her golden orbs as he considered how to respond. Setting his lips taut in a straight line, he pointed a finger in her face.

“I’ll tell you. If you promise not to make a story on it.” The usual Gaius smirk returned to his face, a welcome sight. Robin put her hands on her hips and grinned.

“For you? I guess I’ll just have to ignore this exclusive. Means I get an extra pancake though.” Gaius sighed overdramatically, putting the back of his hand to his forehead and looking wistfully at the cupboards.

“You’re an extortionist, Squeak,” He looked back to her, his canines showing. “I’ve taught you well.”

“Too well,” Robin agreed. They both laughed, any ill-will between them instantly forgotten. “Okay, so spill. What’s the scoop?” Gaius rolled his eyes at her use of journalist lingo.

“Okay, fine. It’s about the whole… Dance thing,” He waved his arms limply, his smile faltering as he tried to explain it. “There was… Well, is, a girl I want to go with. But I’m 99% sure she likes someone else,” Robin cocked an eyebrow, mouth open as she pointed to herself. Gaius blinked and quickly shook his head. “No, not _you_ , dummy! I mean I may save you a dance if you’re lucky, but you’re my best friend’s sister! B’sides, I’m not a fan of the whole wide-eyed innocent Bambi type.”

“Ouch.” Robin grinned. Gaius just rolled his eyes, a smile pulling up one side of his mouth.

“Anyway, this girl is… Completely different from me. Like, a whole world apart. She’s the best at everything, everyone loves her and… Well, I’m. Me,” Gaius laughed sadly to himself, running a hand through his ginger hair. He fixed his faraway gaze on the tiled floor under his feet. “I can hardly keep up with someone like that. I’m barely passing my classes and I’ve got a less than sweet reputation. Pretty stupid of me to fall for a girl I can never have, huh?” He cast an eye to Robin, who was deep in thought with a wrinkled brow.

“You’re not the first.” She looked up and gave him a small, reassuring smile. He scoffed, but returned the sentiment anyway.

“Yeah. Well. It sucks. I barely spend any time with her as it is, since she’s in the year above us. I was gonna ask her anyway – just to see, y’know? – but honestly I don’t think it’s worth the effort now. She’s definitely gonna reject me.” He sighed, leaning the back of his head on one of the closed cupboards above them. Robin frowned. It was saddening seeing Gaius so unconfident; this whole morning had shown her more sides to Gaius than she’d ever thought possible. She turned to him, punching his arm.

“You need to ask her.” He blinked, caught off guard and turned to her with a surprised expression. He evidently was not expecting that kind of response.

“But I just said she liked someone else!” Robin shrugged.

“So?”

“So… She’ll say no!” Gaius threw his hands in the air, looking at her as if she were stupid.

“No she won’t,” She’d thrown him for a loop. He looked completely dumbfounded at her perseverance, causing the Finch grin to finally emerge. She pointed one of her fingers in his face, making him go cross-eyed. “You’re _Gaius._ You’ve got a silver tongue that could get you out of any situation scot-free, even if you murdered the head of the Naga hierophants! Heck, with your skills of smooth-talking you could charm the non-existent pants off a snake! And you think a _girl_ will say _no_ to _you_?” Robin tutted, shaking her head. “Physically impossible. Even if she were madly in love with this other guy, all it would take is a few of your honey covered words and she’ll be falling over herself to ask you to the dance.” Gaius stared at her, mouth slightly ajar at her encouragement. Then he started to mirror her grin.

“Yeah… Yeah, you’re right, Squeak! What am I worried about? Nobody could resist the overpowering allure of Gaius!” He was back to normal.

“That’s the spirit! Now when we get to school you march right up to her and invite her to that dance – don’t take no for an answer!”

“Yes sir!” The boy saluted, beaming like there was no tomorrow. Robin nodded her head.

“Huh? Is that you, Gaius…?” They both turned to the direction of the stairs where a sleepy Jay stood, rubbing his eyes. He put on his glasses and squinted. Gaius immediately turned his smile to him, waving a greeting.

“Yep! About time you got up.” Jay met his smile with a slightly sadder one.

“Was it…?” Her brother trailed off, looking towards her cautiously. Gaius just nodded. Robin looked between them, eyebrows raised. Jay didn’t seem at all surprised by Gaius’ presence. Had this happened before…? Jay and Gaius were both in different years, so it was kind of strange for them to be as close as they were. But if he came over here like this when she was still in her old school… “Ooh, is that pancake batter?” She was shook from her thoughts as Jay shoved past her, putting his hands to the sides of his face as he grinned from Gaius to the bowl.

“You got that right Bubbles! Care to do the honours?” The boy dramatically bowed, gesturing with both arms to the bowl and the frying pan.

“Like you even need to ask.” Jay scoffed, rolling up his pyjama sleeves and turning on the oven hob. Robin watched as the two boys struggled to flip pancakes – a feat that she herself failed miserably at when it came to her turn, resulting in a half-baked mess stuck to the ceiling – and the remainder of the morning passed by in peaceful banter. They each ate their fill and the two siblings eventually got dressed as the sun finally rose in the sky, the walk to school almost the same as any other day: Jay making jokes about various topics, Robin occasionally butting in with one of her own, and Gaius making snarky quips as he teased the siblings. Everything was back to normal. And Robin liked it that way.

As they neared the school she shot a curious glance at Gaius, who returned it with a confident nod. All his inhibitions forgotten, he was going to find his girl as soon as they passed through those gates. Robin genuinely believed it would be impossible for anyone to reject the guy. Before he could, however, Lissa hobbled upto them on her crutches, exasperation painted on her delicate features.

“Guys! Did you hear?!” Her voice was an octave higher than usual between her pants, resulting in a sort of shrill squawk. The three passed a glance between eachother, each wearing a furrowed brow, and shrugged. The blonde made a pained expression. “Cordelia… Cordelia asked Chrom to the dance! And he _said yes_!” The breath caught in Robin’s throat as her heart sank below her feet. In that moment, Gaius and Robin burst out the same incredulous return:

“ _WHAT?!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Angst has arrived.


	8. Imprint Impasse

“Hey, this one’s nice. It’ll really bring out your eyes.”

“Are you kidding? That’ll bring out _far_ more than my eyes! It’s basically a glorified piece of string!”

“You say that as if it’s a bad thing.”

Shopping with Tharja was not going very well.

As it was, Robin had been in a crap mood since Tuesday; the revelation of Cordelia actually asking out Chrom had hit her hard. Sure, she’d been expecting it, but that didn’t make the blow to the gut any less impactful. Instead of facing the concept of those two together, she now had to face the reality: a feat that had been made even harder by the fact they’d had to interview the couple for the school newspaper.

It had taken Stahl until Thursday morning to convince Robin that they actually needed to include them in the paper. She’d kept putting it off, saying that the couples they already had were enough. Henry and Sumia’s section was sweet, they’d managed to find another few couples throughout the student populace and even made a page detailing Vaike’s efforts to ask out the P.E. teacher, Cherche (which, unsurprisingly, did not go very well). Still, Stahl had persisted – and Robin knew he was right. After all, what could possibly attract more attention than the head girl and boy going to a dance together? It was a match made in heaven. One that made Robin’s skin crawl.

Regardless, the interviews went off without a hitch – Stahl was the one asking most of the questions this time, leaving Robin to write down the sickeningly safe story they told: they weren’t an item, they were just attending together out of some sort of shared obligation to their classmates. At least, that’s what Chrom said. Robin knew the truth of it when she saw Cordelia’s stupid smug smile, however. The redhead had practically been beaming, fixing her with a look that clearly stated ‘ _I won.’_

Now it was Thursday afternoon and she was stuck with some Goth who was weirdly infatuated with her. Robin hadn’t thought until now that it was possible to be in an even worse mood than when she heard about Chrom and Cordelia.

Tharja glanced through the racks of clothes, dark lips pulled into a thoughtful scowl as she trailed her painted nails over the various assortments of dresses. Robin had just slumped on a small seat next to her, dead to the world.

“Hmm… Would purple suit you more, or black…?” She mumbled to herself. “Purple would complement your pale complexion more, but if you wore black you’d match me…” Tharja quirked one of her small disturbing smiles again as she pulled out another skimpy black dress.

“Tharja, no. It’s October – it’s _cold_ outside. I’m liable to die of hypothermia in something like that.” Robin reached out an arm and snatched the coat hanger off her, placing it back on the rail. The Goth looked at her in mild annoyance.

“Fine, fine. But don’t blame me if no guy will look at you because you’re dressed like a nun…” A flash of realisation set in on her face as she said it. Scrabbling through the clothes, she hissed. “ _We must find you the most modest dress possible.”_ Robin raised an eyebrow at her. She’d been trying to figure out over the past week whether Tharja was actually a lesbian or not: a line of inquiry that had so far been unsuccessful. At this point, she’d just accepted her strange advances as part of her ‘charm’, and she at least served as a good distraction from the hell that awaited her tomorrow. Tharja finally picked out a reasonable piece of clothing: a deep purple maxi dress, a comfortably modest ensemble that would still afford her a reasonable amount of looks from the opposite sex. Despite herself, Robin smiled.

“Not exactly as chaste as I expected, but I suppose it’ll do.” Tharja practically beamed at her positive response, quickly hoofing to the cashier to pay for it. Before they’d arrived in the shop Robin had tried to convince her that she’d pay for her own clothes, but the girl wasn’t having any of it. Could it be that Tharja was treating her this way because she sensed how upset Robin had been? The Goth rushed back over with a shopping bag in hand.

“Perfect. Now, maybe we should go next door to find some underwear to match it…” Probably not. Robin stepped back in dismay as Tharja started her high pitched giggle. “I could go pick something out now if you gave me your measureme-“

“OH HEY look at the time, Jay’ll be wondering where I am! Uh, see you tomorrow Tharja!” Robin quickly took the bag from the girl’s pale hands, rushing out of the shop before she had a chance to contemplate how she’d already known her dress size. Going into a light jog, Robin looked back down at the dress stored away in the plastic confines of the bag. Sure, tomorrow was going to suck – no way it wouldn’t. But, well, at least she had people that cared enough to go out of their way to cheer her up. Even if one of those people was a borderline psychopath. Nodding to herself, Robin forced a smile onto her lips. She’ll just have to grin and bear it, at least for the sake of her friends.

* * *

Her head laying on her desk in English, Robin tried to ignore Stahl poking her. This was becoming increasingly difficult as he seemed completely oblivious to how she didn’t want to talk to anyone.

“Hey, c’mon Robin, I thought you were feeling better about the dance this morning!” His chipper mood only served to upset the lump in her stomach even more. Huffing, she cast one of her eyes out from under her silver hair to look at him. There he was, in all his serene glory, acting as if he didn’t have a care in the world. It was a mystery to her how Stahl managed to keep the same calm visage no matter the situation. Sighing, Robin pulled herself up into a sitting position.

“I _was_ , until Lissa dragged me and Olivia along at break to see all the girls in their dresses,” Her eye twitched as she recalled the memory. Unable to hold it back anymore, Robin threw her arms up in the air with an exasperated expression. “How in the name of Naga does Cordelia manage to look so utterly _gorgeous?!_ Gods, and I thought it wasn’t possible for her to look any better! Any guy in their right mind would be all over her.” She slumped down in her chair again, putting her hands over her face as she began a self-piteous whine. Raising an eyebrow and maintaining his half-cocked smile, Stahl ran a hand through his hair and chuckled at her.

“Ah, that explains why you’re acting like some kid who dropped her ice cream on the floor.” Robin blew a raspberry, turning to him with a pout. She narrowed her eyes as she moved closer to him, scowling as she examined his half-lidded hazel eyes from a few inches away. He met her very close stare with a mildly surprised blink.

“…You don’t exactly look all that excited about this either.” She decided, moving away but keeping her eyes trained on him. Shrugging, Stahl scratched his neck, his aloof nature acting as a barrier to Robin’s normally good insight.

“Well, this whole dance issue is gonna be a lot of work! And I like to sleep until at least noon on my Saturdays,” He laughed modestly; a gentle sound that resounded in his chest. Robin furrowed her brow further, unconvinced. Catching her expression, Stahl offered her another smile. Then sighed. “That, and I’m just not a big fan of dancing in general.” He conceded. That piqued Robin’s curiosity, a small inquisitive smile replacing her scowl.

“Oh? Not any good at gettin’ jiggy with it?” Robin started to jive her shoulders and torso to imaginary music in her seat, a small grin breaking out on her face as she watched Stahl desperately try not to laugh.

“I’m okay, but I’m definitely not as good as you.” He covered his mouth with his hand, but she could still see the smile behind his fingers. Robin ceased her ‘dancing’ and dramatically flipped her hair.

“Very few are,” Stahl rolled his eyes but kept the smile, leaning over to ruffle up her hair. Robin attempted to dodge out of his reach but unfortunately there wasn’t much space to move considering they were sat at a desk. After unsuccessfully trying to fend him off, her grin faded slightly. Robin fixed him a slightly apprehensive look as she started sorting out her hair. “…Were you going to ask anyone?” Stahl leaned back in his chair and shook his head, his cowlick bouncing, seemingly unaware of the uncertain tone in her voice.

“Nah. I’m just in it for the food. They always do a really good buffet table.” He put his hands behind the back of his head, flashing her his classic lopsided Stahl grin. Robin bit back a guffaw at his response. Now she didn’t feel as bad about basically banning him from having any fun at the dance. To be honest, Stahl hadn’t really minded it much; Olivia, on the other hand, seemed the slightest bit upset after Robin mentioned she may not have the time to dance. It was odd considering she’d expressed no interest in any other part of the occasion, including getting a date – the part most girls obsessed over.

“I’m not sure what I expected. At least we’ve got a load of other couples picking up the slack, huh, Romeo?” She smirked as she pulled a leg out from under him with one of her own, causing him to lurch back and almost impact on the table behind him. Luckily he caught himself in time, looking to her with a mixture of shock and playfulness. Before he could leap back up and enact some sort of revenge, Maribelle smacked him on the back of the head with a book.

“ _Excuse_ me! If you two could stop your buffoonery for _one moment_ , mayhaps you’d be able to do the work Mrs. Phila has set us. Gods, no wonder you two always get detention.” Robin turned around, leaning her arms on the back of her chair. Maribelle was studying them both with her sharp and scolding burgundy eyes, as per usual, as Stahl rubbed the back of his head with a kicked puppy expression.

“In all fairness, she should’ve known better than to trust a bunch of hormonal teenagers. On the last hour of a Friday. Before a dance.” Robin turned her eyes to meet Maribelle’s. She returned it with a scowl. The blonde was still a bit frosty with her, but at this point Robin accepted that was how she was with pretty much anyone who wasn’t Lissa or Olivia.

“Speaking of the dance, how’s Donny’s dancing coming along?” Stahl, apparently now recovered from his assault, interrupted the two’s staring contest, an unusually bold smirk plastered on his otherwise cool features. Robin raised an eyebrow, flicking her prying golden eyes back to Maribelle. She’d gone an indecent shade of pink.

“H-he’s rather good at it now, a-actually,” She stuck her head up in an attempt to regain her dignity. Drawing an eye between the expectant expressions of both of her onlookers, she shot a glare towards the olive haired boy. “And may I ask how one such as y-yourself would come across such information about my… _Private_ life?” Maribelle spoke through gritted teeth. Stahl just shrugged, leaning his chin on the back of his chair.

“Donny’s a family friend. It’s really nice of you to give such attention to a guy so below your station, Maribelle.” He was grinning, an eyebrow cocked cheekily as the blonde’s face became even more heated. Robin decided to join in on the teasing, quirking her own grin as she whistled.

“Wow, Maribelle! How considerate! Socialising with peasants like us? And teaching one to _dance_?” She put her hands on her hips, exchanging exaggerated looks with Stahl. “Why, one would think that you’re a normal unprejudiced human being!” Stahl made a fake gasp at Robin’s comment, covering his mouth and looking between the two girls with wide eyes.

“ _Maribelle?_ Is this true? Are you, perhaps, feeling… _emotions?”_ Maribelle glared at them both, metaphorical laser beams shooting from her eyes. She’d gone a desperate shade of crimson and did not seem to be enjoying their teasing.

“I. Will _end_ you. If you don’t turn around. Right. _Now.”_ With that expression, Robin did not doubt her claim. Wordlessly, both Robin and Stahl turned to face the front, sharing anxious glances. Stahl shot a weary look over his shoulder before leaning towards Robin, whispering.

“Maribelle managed to get a date before Lissa. Does this mean the world’s ending?” She met the smile he was trying so hard to conceal with a constrained grin.

“Either that or she’s bribing the kid. Or she’s been replaced by an alien.”

“An emotionally capable yet equally as snobby android?”

“You’re onto something there. Maybe we should start calling her…” The two locked their impish expressions and said the nickname at the same time.

“ _Maribot!_ ”

“I _heard_ that!” Just on time, the bell for the end of the day sounded. Stahl and Robin quickly picked up their belongings and sprinted out the classroom before Maribelle could murder them, giggling madly and grasping their stomachs along the way. Luckily they managed to escape from the vicinity of the English classrooms before she could catch up. They finally stopped and collapsed in a heap not far from the front gates, wiping tears from their eyes as they flailed wildly and laughed until their sides hurt. Other students gave them weird looks as they walked past, the two having to hold onto eachother to stop themselves from falling onto the ground in hysterics.

“Oh m-my gods, did you see her _face?!”_ Robin gasped, her cheeks beginning to hurt from smiling so much.

“Sh-she looked like a m-murderous tomato!” Stahl had to cling onto her shoulder as he wheezed between laughs. They managed to catch themselves momentarily, but fell back into their collective giggle fit as soon as they locked their tear-filled glances. At this point, Jay and Olivia had walked over from their previous classes, watching the two in mild concern. Stahl and Robin quickly tried to pull themselves together, managing to just about stand on their own and stop the tears from running down their faces.

“H-hey guys, have nice l-lessons?” She managed, having to bite the inside of her cheek to stop another grin from appearing. Jay narrowed his eyes and walked over to her, pushing up his glasses as he stared at her face.

“Wait… Is that my sister? The one that’s not so much as smiled for the whole week?” He pulled at her cheeks. Robin tried to smack his hands away but she was still weak from the laughter. “Good grief, I think it _is!”_ Jay let go of her and turned to Stahl, grabbing his collar in mock desperation. “ _Tell me how you did it!”_ Stahl rubbed his slightly damp face, unable to fight back his goofy smile. Casting a brief enigmatic look to Robin, he turned back to her brother and shrugged in an aloof manner.

“No idea. Guess I’m just too charming.” He chuckled, scratching the freckles on his nose as Jay let go of him, nodding to himself.

“Yeah right!” Robin scoffed and punched the olive haired boy on the arm, sticking her tongue out at him. He raised his hands in defense as he kept his silly grin. Olivia just glanced between the three with a growing smile on her face, tugging up the scarf around her neck.

“S-so are we going or…?” She shifted on her feet, darting her violet eyes to the ground as they all turned to look at her. Jay looked to Robin and nudged her shoulder, smiling.

“C’mon, we gotta get ready for the dance! You don’t wanna miss out on any exclusives, do ya? You can’t exactly go to the dance wearing your regular clothes.” Robin looked at him with a more tense expression, the sinking feeling returning.

“Yeah…” She turned to Stahl and made a small mock salute. “See you later, alligator.” He returned the gesture and pulled up his bag onto his shoulder.

“In a while, crocodile.” After exchanging one last grin, Robin began to walk with Jay and Olivia to the front gate. The three chattered amiably as they trotted down the familiar road to the Finch household.

“So, what’s your dress like Olivia?” Robin turned to the pink haired girl who had been fiddling with a strand of her scarf. She offered Robin a small smile as she turned her shy gaze to the floor.

“W-well you’re going to s-see it as soon as I get changed at your h-house…”

“Yeah but that’s, like, a whole five minutes away,” The Feroxi giggled at her impatience. “Lemme guess – it’s pink?” She nodded.

“Tharja didn’t get you anything too inappropriate, right Robin? If worst comes to worst you can always borrow one of my suits.” Jay grinned, putting an arm around his sister as she rolled her eyes.

“Believe it or not she actually managed to find something decent,” Both Jay and Olivia looked at her in only half-joking shock. “What? The girl’s not a complete psycho.” Her brother shrugged, finally getting to their front door and unlocking it.

“You haven’t seen her tarot card collection. You know she hand paints them? And she puts _us_ on them?” He walked in, the girls following in after.

“B-better than a voodoo doll collection.”

“Amen to that,” Robin threw her bag to the side of the coat rack and shrugged off her jacket, messily placing it on a hook and bounding up the stairs. Olivia followed close behind with a hand in her bag, trying to find her dress. “Hey Jay, what time are we leaving?” She paused at the top of the stairs and shouted down to her brother.

“About two hours!” Jay’s voice echoed from the area of the kitchen. Robin nodded then turned back to Olivia, dragging her along to her room.

“Alright, let’s get this done.” Opening her bedroom door, Robin started rifling through her wardrobe to find her dress, Olivia in tow.

* * *

The following two hours were a blur of clothes, make-up and various hairstyling related pains – one particular incident revolving around how Robin somehow managed to get some of her hair stuck in the electric curlers. Now the three of them were walking in the fading sunlight towards the school, a chilling breeze biting Robin’s bare skin.

She’d opted for a messy updo, leaving her neck and shoulders completely open to the clammy hands of the night. Fortunately a pair of particularly thick woollen black tights served to protect her legs from the same fate, coupling with a pair of deep plum heels which had once been her mother’s. She’d put her notebook and pen in a black shoulder bag that hung by her hip. Walking next to her was her brother, opting for a pair of navy dress trousers, a tucked in black shirt and a buttoned up grey waistcoat. He looked very smart, especially since he’d actually bothered to comb his hair for once, and Robin lamented the fact that no girl had actually seemed interested enough to ask him to the dance. Then of course on her other side was Olivia. The Feroxi wore a cute pastel pink pouf dress complete with a small black bow tied around the waistline – suitably adorable and only seemed to accentuate her soft features and the creamy pale skin it exposed. Her usually braided amaranth hair fell about her shoulders in bold waves, her trademark white woollen scarf instead replaced with her camera. She was shivering – though Robin was unsure it was because of the cold or her nerves.

“Olivia, it’s gonna be fine! You look lovely.” She patted the girl’s shoulder, an action that made her jump.

“I-if you say s-so…” Olivia gripped her camera with her shaky hands, offering her friend a timid smile at the compliment. Jay pushed up his glasses and glanced at his watch the closer they came to the school. They could see teenagers dressed in various party-centric clothing trickling in through the gates at a steady rate, talking animatedly in groups or pairs about the imminent festivity. Robin shared a confident nod with her brother, tapping a finger on her bag. Focus on business. Don’t get swept up in the fun. This is _serious._

Within a few minutes of steady walking, they managed to find their way to the sports hall. From outside the entrance they could hear the dance was in full swing; the heavy drum beats and saccharine voices of various popular artists oozed from the open doors, dissipating into the dusky void behind them. The smiling visages of their classmates passed them as they excitedly filed into the hall. Sharing a slightly nervous smile with her two companions, Robin took an apprehensive approach into the building.

Immediately she was engulfed by the scent of perfume, cologne and sweat – the hallmark mixture of teenagers and desperation. The large open space was crammed to the brim with moving bodies, fold-out tables with wooden chairs and a stage decked out with a DJ booth, attended by some girl in the year above that Robin vaguely recalled was on the Track Team. The whole room was bathed in violet lighting, disrupted by the various flashing light patterns that swept the floor every so often.

“Smells like teen spirit.” Jay remarked, leaning closer to her ear to be heard over the din of the music. Robin bit back a laugh.

“Leave me alone Kurt Cobain, I’ve got research to do,” Shrugging, Jay started walking away, ‘shooting’ her with two of his fingers. Within a matter of seconds he was swallowed up by the tide of teens. Robin turned back to Olivia who was staring intensely at the dancefloor. “Hey, Liv? You see anyone?” She clicked her fingers in front of the pink head’s face. The girl jumped, blinking and turning to her friend.

“Oh… Uh, well, Henry and Sumia are over there.” Olivia pointed out into the crowd. Robin followed it to see the pair walking over to them, grinning like idiots. Sumia was draped in a long magenta gown that trailed on the floor behind her, her ash brown curls bobbing up and down as she pulled her partner by the wrist. She looked overdressed in comparison to her not-date-date, who wore a black jumper and a pair of jeans. Despite that, they looked strangely complementary together.

“Hey guys!” Sumia’s sing-song voice managed to break through the malaise of some pop song that blasted through the speakers. Olivia and Robin nodded to her in acknowledgement.

“Hey! You two having a good time?” The couple shared almost shy smiles before turning back to Robin.

“Yup! Talk about a real _hoot_ enanny, nya ha ha!” It appeared Henry was still fixated on those bird puns whenever he talked to Robin. The boy was doubled over in laughter at his own joke, smacking his knee as Sumia looked at her apologetically. Robin just smiled at her as she pulled out a notebook, preparing to take some notes.

“We’ve just been dancing since we got here. Everyone’s in such a good mood! Oh, and Panne’s a surprisingly good DJ!” Robin wrote down Sumia’s comments, writing a brief description of the couple’s behaviour.

“Ha ha, yeah! Sumia started singing along to that new Taylor Swift song and everyone joined in! It was awesome!” Henry nudged his female companion, grinning, and seemingly oblivious to the girl’s modest blush. Chuckling to herself, Robin looked back down to her notes. Next to her, Olivia picked up her camera and gestured for them both to pose; they both put an arm around eachother’s shoulders and did the peace sign with their fingers, Henry sticking out his tongue as Sumia went cross-eyed. The pink haired girl giggled as she took their picture, smiling down at the photo displayed on her camera’s screen. 

“So h-how long have you been dating now?” The two froze at Olivia’s innocent question. Henry locked up, the arm around Sumia’s shoulder going stiff. Robin suddenly remembered that she’d neglected to tell her Feroxi friend about this pair’s relationship. Sumia’s crimson face was visible even through the low lighting, her joking expression transformed into a pained smile. “…D-did I say something wrong?” The girl looked between the mortified expression of Sumia and the unusually quiet Henry. The two shared a quick glance, immediately untangling themselves from eachother as Sumia started babbling and waving her hands about.

“Er, we’re not _together!_ Ha ha, wh-what would possibly give you that impression? I m-mean, we _are_ together, right now, like, physically, but we’re here as friends! _Friends!_ N-nothing more! Well, I mean technically we are more because we’re best friends, but… gosh, oh man, is it getting hot in here or is it just Hen- _I mean me!_ I’m the hot one! N-not in that way, Henry you look quite dashing yourself – _and I mean that in the most platonic way possible –_ but it’s warm and I just… I…” Sumia stared blankly at her hands, her face twisted into an expression of pure horror as she reflected on the words that had tumbled out of her mouth. Henry stared at her with an unreadable expression, his mouth curved into his usual neutral smile.

“…Do you wanna go back to dancing?”

“Y-yes please.” Without another word, Henry took Sumia by the hand and pulled her back into the pulsating mess of bodies. Robin exchanged a confused yet slightly bemused glance with Olivia, who still had no idea what just happened.

“Well that was awkward,” A familiar breathy drawl sounded from right next to Robin’s ear, causing her to turn around and almost smack foreheads with a certain olive haired boy. Quickly taking a step back from him to avoid any further collisions, Robin surveyed her friend. Stahl had his usual messy bed hair, his stubborn cowlick unperturbed by the change in dress code. He wore a pair of regular black dress trousers with a creased, untucked white shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The boy basically looked as carefree and sloppy as usual and, as weird as it was for Robin to admit it to herself, he was actually pretty cute. Stahl rubbed the bridge of his nose with one hand, his eyes drifting lazily up and down Robin’s appearance – an action that made her strangely self-conscious – before snapping his hazel orbs back to her face. “You look nice.” The edges of his lips quirked into a drowsy grin, his slightly tanned face awash in the violet hued lighting. Robin cleared her throat, matching his eyes with her own and ignoring the minor flush of heat that pricked her cheeks.

“You look like you just rolled out of bed.” It came out more bluntly than she intended. Stahl just chuckled in response, putting his hands in his pockets.

“Is it that obvious?” Robin couldn’t help but smile, rolling her eyes. Olivia subtly nudged her arm.

“Are we gonna…?” Robin stared at the Feroxi’s face blankly for a moment before jumping into action. They had work to do, this was no time for idle compliments.

“Right! Okay guys, gather around, it’s game plan time,” Olivia and Stahl stood in front of her, backs straight with determined, serious expressions. Pointing her pen at them, Robin addressed the boy first. “Stahl.”

“Yes ma’am!” He put his hand to his forehead, standing to attention.

“I want you to stand near the exit, see if any couples sneak off – we must catch any opportunity for gossip, regardless whether they’re a pair on our issue list.”

“The buffet table’s next to the exit, right?”

“Yes.”

“Done.” Without another interaction, Stahl quickly marched off to the door at a speed she didn’t think was physically possible. He was a man on a mission, even if that mission revolved around eating until he was physically ill. Olivia shuffled her feet anxiously as Robin turned to her, wrapping a strand of hair around her finger.

“Olivia.”

“Yeah…?” Robin tapped the back of her pen on her bottom lip, glancing from her friend to the dancefloor.

“I want you to hover around the edge of the dancers – or go into the fray if need be – to get nice, atmospheric pictures. Oh, and take as many photos of the couples dancing as you can.” Olivia nodded, gripping the camera around her neck. She paused momentarily on her way to the dancefloor.

“…So I’m not allowed to… um… Join them...?”

“ _No,_ Olivia, this is _serious business!_ What do you think this is, a dance?” For a moment, Olivia thought she was serious, taking on a wide-eyed Bambi look. Robin turned her serious scowl into a grin, patting the side of her arm. “I’m kidding. If you manage to get enough then I see no reason for you not to join in the festivities. Prioritise the pictures though.” Olivia’s face lit up. Nodding enthusiastically, she walked past her into the gulf. Robin’s grin quickly faded as her friends were out of sight, mostly due to the fact that she instantly spotted a certain couple of red and blue heads swaying around in the crowd.

It was almost criminal how perfect the two looked together. Cordelia’s long red hair fell down her back, the matching crimson and white one-shouldered ruffled dress swished about her long bare legs as she sashayed back and forth with Chrom. The Prince Charming himself took Robin’s breath away; he wore an oxford blue suit complete with a short sleeved dress jacket and a black tie, his perfectly groomed cobalt hair matted slightly to his forehead at the constant movement. They were pressed together in a classic dancing formation, a little closer than usual due to the sheer amount of people that writhed around them. The happy grins on their faces, however, were the details that made Robin’s stomach plummet to the ground like a pile of cinderblocks.

Walking over to a nearby table, Robin sat alone on one of the uncomfortable wooden chairs, notebook and pen set on the hastily draped tablecloth. The humid atmosphere was almost suffocating; the dizzying hypnotism of the lightshow melding with the fragrant haze to create an almost dream-like feel. She could see all her friends amid the frenzied congregation, laughing and singing along with some pop rock song that started thrumming from the speakers. Robin could still feel the vibrations from her spot on the other side of the hall. It was strangely tranquil; somewhere in the chasm of her chest she felt an unshakable sense of loneliness, but that was buried under a miasma of dulled antipathy. It was odd. She’d only been going to this school, had only known these people, for just over a month, yet watching all of them all having fun while she felt so down was… Disheartening? Painful? A cocktail of guilt and melancholy curdled in her stomach as she thought more about it.

“Robin! There you are!” Thankfully, Robin was shaken from her dour thoughts by the cheerful tune of Lissa. She hobbled over to the girl’s table on her crutches, the ends of her frilly lemon-yellow chiffon dress swaying back and forth at the relatively fast momentum. Despite not being able to fully join in on all the festivities due to her injury, the bouncy blonde didn’t seem in the slightest bit discouraged. Her joyful demeanour was almost inspiring.

“Sup Lissa. Did you find Mister Super Skateboarder yet?” Robin used the extremely creative and totally catchy nickname Gaius had given Lon’qu. It was pretty much common knowledge that Lissa had been waiting around for the boy to ask her to this dance, though – unsurprisingly – he never did. Partially due to the fact that he still avoided Lissa whenever she tried to get too close to him (which was always), but mostly because he seemed more focused on spending time at the skate park than planning some frivolous night out with the very gender he had an aversion to. In fact, she’d never once heard Lon’qu mention the dance. Lissa shook her head, puffing out her cheeks.

“No. I’ve been looking everywhere for him, too! I don’t think he’s coming.” She sighed, slumping in a chair next to Robin and tapping the side of one of her crutches.

“Can you really picture Lon’qu in anything as stuffy as party clothes?” Robin chuckled, raising her eyebrows at the girl. Lissa’s face scrunched up as she thought about it, biting her lip as her imagination took its toll. “Okay, okay, never mind that. How’s the leg?” Seemingly struck from her daze, the blonde turned back to her and delivered a sheepish grin.

“I can walk on it by Monday! Stahl’s da- er, Dr. Castleton, said I shouldn’t exert myself so soon on a dance like this,” She drew her soft leafy eyes to the throng of people, waving as she spotted Maribelle – dressed in a very regal salmon-pink ball gown – who was currently dancing with a very humble looking boy that Robin assumed was the ‘Donny’ Stahl had referred to earlier. The aristocrat waved back, then caught Robin’s smirk and immediately scowled. It was hard to tell in the purplish lighting, but she was pretty sure Maribelle had gone scarlet. Lissa’s attention flitted back to Robin. “Normally I wouldn’t care about my foot healing quickly. After all, it’s not like I do any sports or… Really much of anything,” She laughed pleasantly, scratching the side of her neck. “But the sooner it gets better…” Trailing off, Lissa’s brow furrowed in thought.

“…The sooner you can start your one-on-one skateboard lessons.” Robin finished for her. This earned her a slightly pink reaction from Lissa, who then broke into a grin.

“Man, you really _are_ good!” Not exactly, it was just really obvious. The girls’ attention was drawn once again by Maribelle who stood on the edge of the crowd, beckoning to the blonde girl, who smiled and started gathering up her crutches. “Welp! This was a nice chat, Robin! Good luck on your couple writey thingamajiggy,” Pulling herself out of her chair, she shot one final happy grin at Robin, who returned the sentiment. “Just know that if Lon’qu came with me, we’d have _definitely_ been voted the top couple!”

“If you weren’t, I’d have rigged the voting to make sure you won anyway.” Lissa giggled at the comment, waving widely as she hobbled off towards Maribelle. Robin smiled to herself and leaned back in her chair. Grabbing her notebook, she began to write about Maribelle and her date – she was going to find some page to place this on. Hot gossip and all that. No ulterior motives whatsoever. Despite herself, Robin’s gaze drifted towards Chrom and Cordelia again. While Lissa had distracted her and showed her there was no real reason for her to be in self-pity mode, it still stung. That was _her_ future husband. There was no place for Miss Perfect Cordelia in their fairy tale. Biting the inside of her cheek, Robin forced herself to write down notes on the couple.

_‘Chrom looks dashing. Cordelia beautiful, unfortunately. The two together are like a prince and a princess.’_

She paused, tapping the pen on her chin. To make herself feel better, she scribbled down another line.

_‘Those feather hairclips are so out of place though like seriously what was that girl thinking.’_

Robin nodded to herself, a small smile appearing at her petty jab that no one would ever actually see.

“Really? I think the clips are cute,” Or not. Robin jumped half a mile and turned to see Gaius peering over her shoulder, an eyebrow raised at her and a mocking smile gracing his features. “Somethin’ up, Squeak?” He leaned his arms on the back of her chair, making her move towards the end just to glare at him.

“Do you get some kind of a kick out of scaring girls?” Robin quickly shut her notebook, jamming it into her bag along with her pen. Gaius stood up, shrugging. He wore an unzipped moss coloured bomber jacket over a grey shirt and tie, along with a pair of dark brown trousers. Judging from his brushed ginger hair, it looked like he at least attempted to look smart.

“Nah. Just you,” He stepped around the edge of the chair and sat on the side of it next to her. Sighing, Robin scooted over to the side, relinquishing half the seat to Gaius who simply smirked and put an arm around her shoulder in response. Refusing to give up her spot, Robin scowled to herself and accepted the unwelcome physical contact. They stayed in silence for a few moments. “You enjoying the view?” His usual loud belligerent tone took on a quiet introspective sound, drawing Robin’s attention up to look at his face. Gaius’ features were sharp, his eyes were narrowed, their emerald hues focused on a pair of particular figures in the crowd. Robin didn’t have to guess who he was looking at.

“If by ‘enjoying’ you mean ‘wanting to gouge my own eyes out’.” She grumbled, turning her own golden orbs to the ‘view’ in question. They were still stuck to eachother. Gaius chuckled, removing his arm from around her and placing it on his lap.

“Know that feeling, Squeak.” They hadn’t really talked about the whole situation since Tuesday morning. While a handful of people had their suspicions, she and Jay were the only ones who knew about Gaius’ crush on the head girl. It made Robin feel almost thankful that one of her friends was going through such a similar situation as her. Yet again, there was no doubt that Gaius was taking it hardest out of the two – it sounded like he’d felt like this way for a while, whereas she’d only known Chrom for the past month. He was one of his best friends, too. Jay tried to convince him to tell Chrom about his feelings, but the boy’s pride got the best of him, so he stayed silent, watching sadly from the sidelines. Robin sighed, leaning back more on their shared chair.

“Why’d you show up if you knew you’d just be put through… This?” She gestured limply in the direction of the crowd. Gaius shot a glance over his shoulder at her, then shrugged.

“Felt like I needed to see it. If I hadn’t come I’d just be at home, my brain making up stupid and crazy hypotheticals about what could be happening right now.” He loosened his tie, whether it was out of heat or general discomfort about the topic, she couldn’t tell.

“Then why didn’t you just get some other date to take your mind off it?” There was no doubt that some girl would say yes to him; the whole pep talk about him being as smooth a talker as they come wasn’t a lie.

“I don’t wanna lead some poor broad on. All it would take is a dance and she’d fall madly in love with me.” He leaned back and rested his head on her shoulder, grinning like a Cheshire cat. She didn’t have the heart to push him off, so instead she just scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“What a considerate guy you are. Any girl would be lucky to have you.”

“I know, right?” He sat back up, the two sharing sad smiles as they turned back to watching the couple again. Most of the other pairs had at least taken a break and shared one dance with someone else – like how Henry and Sumia traded with Sully and Frederick – and by this point the majority of people on the dancefloor were just dancing in groups. But for some reason Chrom and Cordelia kept close to eachother’s sides.

“Do you think he likes her?” Robin blurted out her thought, then instantly regretted it as it highlighted the fact that Cordelia plainly liked Chrom. Gaius didn’t flinch though, just raised an eyebrow without moving his gaze.

“Hard to say. I’ve never known Blue to get a crush. I wouldn’t blame him though.” Robin slumped further in her spot on the seat. That wasn’t very reassuring. Still, she appreciated the boy’s roguish honesty. She was about to say something but was then interrupted by the sudden reappearance of Stahl.

“Woah, you guys look happy.” He leaned on the table next to them, a complacent expression as he looked between Robin and Gaius. The ginger boy didn’t shift, casting an uninterested glance to him. Robin scowled.

“Hey, I said you had to stand by the door!”

“Yep, you did,” He gave a small chirp of a reply to her, then turned to Gaius. Stahl’s terse reply only deepened Robin’s scowl, but he ignored it. “Bummed about Cordelia, huh?” She felt Gaius freeze. She looked up to see the ginger boy frowning, glaring at Stahl with a mix of hostility and curiosity.

“How’d you know about that?” The olive hair boy shrugged, turning to look out into the mob, presumably at Cordelia and Chrom. He rubbed the freckles on his nose.

“Lucky guess. Nearly every lunchtime you start teasing her, but since Tuesday you’ve sat at least a row away from wherever she is.” He cast an unreadable hazel eye back to the boy, who met it with an almost impressed expression.

“…Then yeah, I’m not too happy with the current situation.” Gaius relaxed, reaching a hand around to scratch the back of his neck. He kept his frown, but it took on an almost forlorn quality. Stahl smiled at him.

“Mm. I get it.” This comment drew Robin’s attention. She glanced between the two of them, noting that they’d both taken on a strangely unreadable demeanour, gazes locked. A silence engulfed them and for a moment she thought she saw something akin to understanding flash in Gaius’ emerald eyes. But like that, the tense atmosphere was gone.

“Thanks.” Gaius lifted a thumb up to his mouth, chewing on the end of his nail. It was at this point Robin made a Startling Realisation.

“Where are your sweets?” She sat up, nearly shoving him off the chair. Turning his full attention to her, he blinked in surprise.

“Uh… I ate them all before getting here,” Robin gasped. “What? I got anxious, okay!” Gaius lifted his hands up in defense.

“Y’know, there are still desserts left on the buffet table. Well, for now, anyway. I was gonna start eating them when I got back.” Stahl’s sleepy tone drifted through to the two of them, both of them turning an expectant eye to him. Robin’s scowl returned.

“That’s right! You need to get back to your post, _now_ , mister.” She stood – almost toppling over since she’d been sat down for so long – and shook his arm. Laughing, he ran his free hand through his hair.

“Guess I’ll come too then. I’ll help keep an eye out for any of your ‘scoops’ or whatever, Squeak.” He appeared by the side of them, nodding to Stahl, though there was no mistaking a sense of urgency behind his seemingly calm tone. Robin sighed and let go of the boy, putting a hand behind both of their backs and giving them a push in the direction of the door.

“Good! If it turns out we’ve missed any exclusives because of your break, Stahl, I’ll make sure you’ll be up by 6 am!”

_“You monster!”_ She heard the distant whine from her olive haired companion as the two boys disappeared from her sight into the violet mist. Putting her hands on her hips, Robin allowed a smile and shook her head. Before she could turn around she was swept up by her arms and pulled in the direction of the dancefloor.

“Hey soul sister, fancy a dance?” Jay’s chipper tone was unmistakable. She looked up to see his face emblazoned with the Finch grin, his glasses slightly crooked from all the movement. Robin tried to separate herself from him but it was too late, they’d already breached the congregation of motion.

“Jay! I’m supposed to be _working!”_

“That wasn’t working, that was sulking.” She opened her mouth to respond, but found she had no biting retort to make. He was right. The only things she’d written this whole time were brief comments on their chat with Henry and Sumia, and her passive aggressive notes on Chrom and Cordelia. Jay cocked an eyebrow knowingly.

“…Still, I’m not gonna get any work done up here either.”

“I think you deserve a break. Olivia and Stahl have got you covered after all,” She wasn’t so sure about the latter of that, but by this point Robin had no idea which way it was to get out of the mass of dancing teens. Everyone was moving around rapidly, jumping or fist-pumping or making some weird dance moves, flowing in time to the thumping beat. The smell of sweat and perfume was even more pungent here. On top of that, the mixture of music, cheering and people singing was almost deafening. Robin felt nauseous even being near this mess. Jay’s grip tightened on her arms, presumably sensing her unease. “C’mon sis, do this for me. It’s kinda upsetting watching you be all depressed.” She looked up at his surprisingly soft voice, being greeted by his compassionate smile. Robin felt the roaring tide of turmoil in her stomach ease a bit. She sighed, unable to deny that face.

“Alright, alright, just this one dance. Then I’m gonna get back to work.” Jay’s happiness was palpable. He laughed as he pulled her into a kind of sloppy samba, his good mood infectious. Robin started to giggle as he dramatically spun her around to some club mix. They looked completely out of place, but neither of them really cared – everybody else minded out of the way and joined in on the merriment, clapping as the siblings broke out into their own version of the hustle. Any kind of embarrassment Robin should’ve felt about the moves they’d practiced in their living room as kids completely dissipated in the sweaty haze, a strange giddiness taking hold. She heard cheering from a voice that sounded similar to Sully’s on the edge of the circle they’d created, Jay catching her hand as the pair transitioned into a terribly inaccurate version of the rumba.

“You ready for this, Robin? I’ve got a surprise for you!” He half-shouted to be heard over the music. Robin grinned, quirking an eyebrow.

“What? We gonna try a fox-trot?” Jay shook his head, pulling her along through some part of the crowd and glancing over his shoulder as they maintained their disjointed dance routine.

“Even better!” He shot her an enigmatic wink. Before she had a chance to contemplate his scheme, they suddenly ended up next to the pair of Chrom and Cordelia. An arrow of foreboding shot through Robin’s chest, her grin slowly turning into a silent gape of horror. “Yo, Chrombone, mind if we swap girls?” Chrom looked to him, brow furrowed at the offer, while Cordelia just straight up glared at him. “Cool, thanks! I promise I’ll take good care of her!” He quickly cut in between the pair, pulling Cordelia by the wrist and essentially chucking Robin into Chrom. She’d have fallen over if he hadn’t caught her arms in time.

“Ah! You okay?” Her heart stopped. Robin’s face had planted directly into his chest. His broad and muscular chest. Oh dear. Chrom’s deep voice rung with concern, rumbling in his breast, and she was sure she had gone a very dark and very obvious shade of crimson. His grip on her arms was strong – his hands were warm and slightly sweaty, but the contact still sent shivers up her spine. Slowly turning to look up at him, she gave him a shaky smile.

“I… U-uh, yeah, I’m fine…!” He returned her response with a reassuring nod. Wait, was… Was he red too? Robin squinted her eyes. Between the blur of the adrenaline and the harsh lighting, it was hard to pick out any kind of colour. His mouth moved but she didn’t hear anything, the sound of the blood pumping in her ears overriding any kind of noise. “I-I’m sorry, what?” Chrom just chuckled, leaning in right next to her ear and repeating himself.

“I said, you look very pretty tonight!” He said it way too loudly, a few nearby people glancing over at the pair with raised eyebrows. That did not stop Robin’s heart from skipping a beat. A few beats, actually. Was she having a heart attack? The sudden ramming sensation of her heart against her ribcage answered that, the heat that had pooled in her face now rushed up the side of her neck. The feeling of his breath on her skin still lingered. Chrom leaned back to his standing position, an almost awkward smile present on his unnaturally brilliant features. Suddenly remembering human interaction was a thing, Robin blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“You too!” A moment of silence overcame them. “…Look handsome, I mean!” Smooth, Robin, smooth. Chrom just grinned and broke out into a humble bout of laughter, the sound of which calmed her nerves a little. He looked even better close up. The matted blue of his outfit brought out the twinkle in his welcoming eyes, drawing attention to the cute little crinkles that appeared under them when he smiled. Robin sincerely felt like she’d died and gone to heaven. A few seconds passed after Chrom had finished laughing and Robin realised something; they had not moved. Frowning, she looked down at their feet, then back to Chrom’s face. That awkward smile had returned. Oh no, was she making this weird? She was making this weird. Quick, you fool, _say something!_ Robin cleared her throat. “So, are y-“

“I can’t dance.” His voice wavered as he said it. Unsure that she heard it correctly, she simply blinked dumbly at him. Chrom licked his lips and looked unsurely to the side.

“You… Can’t dance?” She repeated. He nodded his head, then hung it as if ashamed.

“Not even the slightest. Any time I try I just end up looking like a flailing mess,” Chrom locked his eyes with hers, clearly exasperated. “I mean, I tried to learn, I really did. As a kid I’d try dancing around the house while watching videos on how to do it, you know? But Lissa said I looked like I was trying to perform some badly choreographed ancient sacrificial ritual minus the fire and the… you know, sacrifice,” He looked pained at the memory. “So here I am, eighteen years in to my existence, and I can’t even manage walking back and forth a couple of steps without looking like a complete idiot.” Chrom took a deep breath, having said all of that babble in the same inhalation. Robin felt almost relieved at the news.

“So, you were dancing with Cordelia…”

“…Because I didn’t want anyone else to know,” He finished for her, nodding sadly. The weight she’d been carrying around with her for the whole week suddenly lifted off her shoulders. There was something strangely satisfying about being let in to Chrom’s secret. Robin let out a laugh, her legs suddenly weak, leading him to having to pull her up by the arms again. “Oh gods, I know, it’s so embarrassing, I’m so laughab-“

“N-no, no!” She almost fell into him, shaking her head as she forced herself to smile up at him. “It’s just… I wasn’t expecting it!” Chrom smiled sheepishly, looking off to the side as he slightly loosened his grip on her. Robin’s heart still pounded loudly, she had to consciously will herself to stop shaking. “…Has anybody actually tried to teach you?” His gaze snapped back to her, surprised.

“No. Why?” Robin bit her lip, feeling his intense stare on her face.

“Well. As I’m here – and we’re at a dance – I guess I could. Uh.” She shrugged, exhaling a short laugh. Chrom smiled as the realisation of what she was saying came to him, along with – she was sure of it this time – a deep blush.

“O-oh, really? That’d be… cool! Yeah! Man, I can’t believe I’m being taught to dance by such a cute girl!” Robin froze at his comment. Chrom did as well, looking at her with wide, panicked eyes. Instead of digging himself into a deeper hole, his mouth dropped open and let out a prolonged syllable akin to a very anguished “Uhhhhhhhh.” It was still strange seeing Mr Perfect as a mess of awkwardness. Robin guessed it was from the close contact, or a mix of the heat and the fumes peppered about in the air. It was kinda dorky, but also… Incredibly endearing. Robin swallowed back any nervousness she harboured and smiled at him.

“Well, this cute girl is going to start with the basics,” That seemed to snap him out of his daze. Chrom cleared his throat, standing up straight and awaiting her instructions, taking on a serious expression. “Alright, so you just put this hand here, and this one in mine…” She couldn’t look him in the face as she moved him into position, placing one of his hands hovering over her hip and holding the other one in her own far smaller appendage. Under normal circumstances they would look extremely out of place, but fortunately a slower song started playing from the speakers.

“Okay, so… W-what now?” His voice broke midway through the sentence. Robin bit back a smile, looking up at him.

“Now you have to actually move your feet,” Chrom grimaced. “Don’t worry, it’s easy! You just move your foot this way… then the other one… Then back again…” She was slowly and deliberately showing him what to do. He nodded confidently. He managed the first step perfectly fine, and the second step, but miraculously he slipped on the third step and ended up stepping on her foot.

“O-oh gods, I’m so sorry, Robin!” He was starting to sound like Olivia. She tried to ignore the stinging sensation, giving him a forced grin to stop him from freaking out.

“It’s fine, it’s fine! Two out of three isn’t too bad at all,” Seemingly calmed by her reassurance, Chrom smiled sheepishly. “Now c’mon, let’s try it again,” They repeated the steps, _very_ slowly this time. He seemed to be getting the hang of it after a few goes. “See, you’re doing awesome! Much better than a badly choreographed sacrificial ritual.” Chrom beamed at her, the familiar hopeful twinkle back in his cerulean eyes. As she smiled at him a certain flash of colour caught her eye. Glancing briefly to the side, she saw Cordelia marching towards them through the sea of people – and boy, did she look _pissed_. The girl must’ve finally escaped from her brother’s vicelike grip. Robin gulped. She had to get out of here. _Now._

“H-hey Robin, I m-managed to fill u-up my camera’s m-memory, do you think i-it’d be okay for m-me to dance now…?” Robin whipped her head around to find a very sanguine Olivia, barely audible over the sound of the music. She was almost shoved inbetween the pair thanks to the constant motion of the people around them, yet her excitement still shone through her shy disposition. Perfect timing.

“Right! Yes, of course! Good job Olivia!” She glanced over her shoulder again to see Cordelia getting closer. Robin could practically feel her animosity from here. Chrom had stopped ‘dancing’, offering a warm smile to the pink haired girl, who naturally shied away from it. “Aaaand you can start dancing by taking over Chrom for me!” The colour from her face drained. Robin leaned in closer to whisper into the girl’s ear. “He’s not too great at it, so if you could teach him a few steps as I escape from the wrath of Cordelia that’d be great.” Olivia’s violet eyes cleared and took on a look of understanding. Steeling her resolve, the girl nodded.

“I-I can do that!”

“Great!” Unceremoniously, Robin untangled herself from Chrom and pulled Olivia into her position. The blue haired demi-god blinked at her in confusion. “Uh, I’ve gotta get going now Chrom, but Liv will look after you! This was fun! See you… Um, Sunday?” Chrom’s beguiled expression turned into a welcoming one, nodding at her.

“Oh… Yeah! Just text me or something! Jay can give you my number!” _Sweet._ Now feeling on top of the world, the giddy sensation returned as Robin quickly shoved through the crowd. She’d had _a moment_ with her future husband. Maybe it was _the_ moment! There was no way Cordelia could top that, she was sure of it. The butterflies in her stomach were unaffected by the imminent consequences of her affair, even when the girl started… Changing direction. Oh no. Cordelia had turned from her warpath towards Chrom and caught Robin’s dash into the tide, heading straight for her. She was going to actually murder her. This is not how she wanted her perfect Friday night to end. There was no way she was going to be able to overpower a girl who was the head of practically every girls’ sports team in the school. Robin glanced around, looking to see if anyone would make a good human shield. Maybe she could distract her by throwing her notebook at her? Yet again if she saw those notes she made on her, she’d be liable to get even angrier. Robin just had to be creative, yes, she had to use her sharp wits and skills of perception to get out of thi-

“Woah, hey there!” She impacted into someone’s chest. Again. A familiar scent of cinnamon overtook her senses, somehow even overpowering the stench that surrounded the dancefloor. It set her nerves at ease. Tearing herself away from the feeling of comfort, she looked up at the guy she’d just ran into.

_“Stahl!”_ Robin had never been so happy to see his calm visage. The olive haired boy smiled at her, seemingly unfazed by the close vicinity. She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a brief squeeze, then pulled back and scowled at him. Stahl met it with a slightly bewildered expression at her display of physical contact. “Wait, why the heck have you left your post again?” He quirked a diffident smile.

“Well actually that’s why I came to see yo-“ She interrupted him after gleaning a familiar splotch of red not too far from her side. Putting both her hands on the side of his face – an action that made him look even more startled – Robin stared into his hazel orbs with a sincerely fearful expression.

“Nevermind that, _help me!”_  Stahl blinked, glancing over her shoulder and presumably seeing the source of her panic. His attention snapped back to her with a jaunty grin.

“Alrighty then, m’lady, happy to oblige!” He swept her up into a mock version of the tango, prancing away from the encroaching redhead. Robin almost stumbled as he dragged her away, but thankfully his deceivingly strong arms held her in place. The couples they passed gave them estranged glances. Robin tossed a look back over her shoulder to see any sign of Cordelia gone, a wave of relief overcoming her as they seemingly lost her pursuer.

“Stahl, you beautiful dastard, you saved my life!” She turned back to him, grinning as she joined in on his fast paced and overly exaggerated dance routine.

“Again.” He added. They scooted past a few couples back to their usual lively dancing at the now high tempo music, Stahl shooting her a cheeky smile.

“Yeah, again.” Robin conceded, laughing as the two flamboyantly whirled around the still crowded dancefloor. There was a strange comfort she felt being those close to Stahl, a far breach from the almost alien anxiety she felt when near Chrom. Yet it still imbued her with the same sense of giddy light-headedness. “We should get you a rose.” Stahl chuckled at the proposition, pulling her closer as they skirted around another group of dancing teens

“Where’s Virion when you need him?” He clicked his tongue in mock annoyance. Robin had no doubt that the philanderer was in attendance, though he was probably busy flirting with most of the girls in the room – or worse, Sully. It was no secret the short-tempered girl had an open dislike of him, yet still, he didn’t know when to quit. It was almost inspiring. Almost.

It was like being in a trance; for the past week Robin had gotten nothing but strife, but it was all solved in a matter of a few cathartic moments. Now she was here, no longer a miserable wretch stuck on the sidelines, doing the tango with her friend and co-editor. She let out a deep exhale she didn’t know she’d been holding in. Any previous tenseness was washed away by the rhythmic, brisk movements of the dance. Stahl looked like he was enjoying himself too, his cowlick bobbing around as he stepped to-and-fro, a goofy grin painted across his slightly sweaty face. Robin felt a few strands of her hair matted to her own damp forehead. As the song started winding to an end, Stahl made a dramatic finisher and pulled her down into a dip, almost stumbling on the way.

A small silence fell in the space between the music transition, the two suspended in their position. An unusual feeling jolted through Robin’s chest as she stared into the earnest hazel pools of Stahl’s face. There was something about the way the light hit him in the moment; the way the freckles on his nose scrunched up as he gave her that happy, carefree grin. But just like that, the moment was gone: the next track on the DJ’s setlist kicked in and the feeling in Robin’s chest had dissipated, expelling any kind of adrenaline through a cathartic and loud laugh.

“Smooth moves there, John Travolta!” Stahl returned the sentiment with a chuckle, though it was quickly stopped as his face took on a look of horrified realisation. Robin blinked at him and stood up straight, untangling herself from his limbs as Stahl furrowed his brows. “…Something wrong?” He looked up at her, his eyes wide.

“I don’t feel very well.” Clutching his stomach, Robin could see the greenish tinge to his face even through the heavy purple fog. She grabbed his shoulders with a sense of mild urgency.

“How much of that buffet did you eat?!” He frowned to himself in thought, quirking an eyebrow and counting down on his fingers.

“The plate of cheese sandwiches, a bowl of those little mini cocktail sausages, the cheese and pineapple sticks, two and a half tubes of ready salted pringles, a box worth of breadsticks, a few slices of carrot cake, a plate of fish fingers…” He scowled, narrowing his eyes as he tried to recall his feast. Then snapped his fingers in realisation, grinning at her. “Oh! And the raspberry trifle!” Robin stared at him, jaw slack. She felt an unending sense of pity for Stahl’s digestive system. The momentary flash of joy on his face was overcome by pain, one hand clutching his abdomen as the other clasped over his mouth. “Oh, gods, that trifle is _not_ sitting well.”

“OKAY time to get you out of here before you paint the floor with the contents of your stomach!” Robin grabbed his wrist and started shoving past people, dragging him along in her desperate search for the exit. People seemed to mind out the way after they saw the expression on the boy’s face. At this point he’d gone a sickeningly deep shade of lime green. By some miracle of nature, Robin managed to locate the door, running as fast as she could on her unsteady heels. She would’ve worn flats had she known she’d be guiding a timebomb of puke out of a room heavily populated by people. Bursting out of the double doors into the cool night air, Stahl threw himself to the nearest bin just in time. The quiet of the outside would’ve been a blessing if it weren’t for the punctuation of Stahl’s retching. She sighed, wiping some of the sweat from her brow and walking over to pat the back of the olive haired boy. This went on for about a minute. “You know, in movies this is usually the part where the girl’s supposed to throw up and the guy’s supposed to hold her hair back.” Stahl looked up from his bin, bits of partially digested fish fingers dribbling down his chin.

“Guess I’m more of a romance movie heroine then.” He managed a half smile, though immediately returned to vomiting. Robin shook her head, turning at the sound of the door opening. Jay came strolling over to her with his hands in his pockets, blithe expression interrupted by a quirked eyebrow at the noises coming from Stahl. He paused, pointing.

“Is he…?”

“Yeah. He decided it would be a good idea to eat the majority of the buffet table.” Jay chuckled, moving to stand next to her.

“It was the trifle, wasn’t it? That was Sully’s creation. Naga knows why anyone let her have access to a kitchen,” A groan emanated from the bin. Robin covered her mouth to hide the smile forming, glancing to her brother’s usual grin. He turned his attention back to her, pushing up his glasses. “Y’know, Cordelia’s out for blood. Thanks to you, Chrom’s time is now being eaten up by a certain pink haired Feroxi who’s teaching him how to dance.” Robin raised an eyebrow, a victorious smirk sprawling across her features.

“Good. Anything to keep that girl away from him,” She pulled on a strand of her silver hair. “It’s nice that Olivia has at least momentarily overcome her crippling anxiety.” Jay nodded in agreement. They both turned their eyes to Stahl, finally departing from the bin and wiping his mouth. He still looked like hell.

“You okay there buddy? Need any help getting home?” Jay’s concerned tone brought a small smile to his face, which was then creased by agony as Stahl clutched his stomach again.

“Your dad’s a doctor, right? He can help you out.” Robin walked over to him, trying to ignore the small spike of irritation as she brought up the piece of information he withheld from her. He shook his head.

“My parents and brother are out this weekend.” Stahl almost collapsed as he took a step, both Robin and Jay jumping to catch him. He was bigger than both of the siblings so they had a hard time keeping him propped up between them.

“Well… You still have medicine and stuff there, don’t you?” Robin looked at her brother, her tone uncertain, frowning thoughtfully. The idea of Stahl writhing in pain all on his own was not a pleasant one. Jay seemed to second this thought, as he turned to address the boy directly.

“You should stay over ours for the night. You can sleep on the sofa,” That wasn’t exactly what she expected, but it seemed as good a solution as any. She looked up at Stahl and saw he really wasn’t in a position to object – his face was still twisted up in pain. Jay took this as a ‘yes’. “Okaydokey then, let’s go home.” He slung one of the boy’s arms around his shoulder, a gesture Robin mirrored.

“Sleepover, huh…? Sounds fun,” Stahl mumbled, a half-smile fighting against his sour composition. “Does this mean I get to sleep in until noon?” Robin rolled her eyes, yet still grinned as he cast an expectant look to her.

“I’m still getting you up early to write those issues, mister. Don’t think you can skip out on work just because you’re dying.” Jay chuckled at his sister’s harshness. Stahl just shrugged, giving her a tired wink.

“Worth a try.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy, hope you guys enjoy this one (VERY LONG) part. It's actually going to be the last one for the next month or so since I've got. Uh. Exams. So.  
> DON'T FEAR HOWEVER, I promise I will get back to it (I have a majority of this fic planned out so it'd be pointless if I just abandoned it) and I'll return to my break-neck pace of updating xD But for now, please enjoy this novel-like chapter.  
> As ever guys, I hope you enjoy this part! Expect more updates towards the end of June!  
> And if you have any suggestions for ships or column writers (since I'm running out of ideas, don't tell anyone) then I'm all ears! ...Er, eyes. Whatever.


	9. The Aftermath Package

A hazy awakening of sore legs and neck cramps dragged Robin out of the warm safety of her bed, pulling her into the everlasting joy that is the day after a night out. A layer of hairspray and sweat stuck to her skin in a very uncomfortable sheen, forcing her previously soapy smelling kitten nightgown to take on an unwanted musky scent. Despite her circumstances the outside world decided that today deserved a bright spattering of sunshine, nearly blinding Robin as she threw open her curtains. Hissing, she recoiled and lobbed the previous night’s clothes at the window as if that’d somehow make the sun go away. It didn’t work. Needless to say, Robin grumbled all the way to the bathroom.

After a brief shower – which mostly involved Robin pointing out a myriad of new bruises that had miraculously appeared on her pale legs – she felt slightly less dead. Tossing on a pair of baggy trousers and an oversized shirt of her brother’s, she decided that she looked at least somewhat passable, so began a descent of the staircase.

The house was as quiet as she’d expected; no doubt Jay was still asleep, that boy didn’t seem to begin functioning any time before noon. She smiled to herself, looking forward to having the morning to herself to prepare for the work she had to do on the articles they had due in. She was about to turn into the kitchen to grab herself some toast when she was distracted by a single loud snore that came from the direction of the living room. What the heck? Had someone broken into their home and crashed out on their sofa? Robin quickly grabbed one of her many weaponised kitchen utensils (today it was a ladle) and cautiously approached the room. Peeking her head around the doorway, she noticed there was, in fact, the edge of a blanket covered figure on their large leather cream sofa. Robin took a deep breath and held the ladle close to her chest. She began a slow, deliberate tip-toe towards the piece of furniture, raising the ladle over her head, ready to strike at any moment. Her heart beating wildly in her still fuzzy eardrums, Robin glanced over the back of the sofa to get a look at this fiendish, devious interloper that had decided to invade their innocent homestea- Wait.

Robin dropped the ladle to her side, sighing deeply as she looked down on the clearly unconscious face of Stahl. He was splayed across the entirety of the relatively large sofa, one leg basically suspended in the air, with drool smeared across his chin. The blanket that they’d donated to him barely covered his feet, the majority of it fallen onto the carpet next to him. Robin leaned on the plush back of the sofa, her previous bout of adrenaline completely dissipating as she remembered about their last-minute adoption. Somehow Stahl’s hair looked even more messed up as he slept. She figured the sight was almost endearing, but that thought was immediately interrupted by another piercing snore. The boy turned over and stuck his right arm out in an even more uncomfortable position, practically falling off the sofa entirely. Robin rolled her golden eyes. This was enough messing about, there wasn’t any time for sleeping on the job.

“Hey. Hey Stahl. Yo. Sleepyhead. Mr. Second in command. Wake up,” The girl leaned over, prodding his back. He still wore the dress shirt from the previous night, now creased beyond belief. Stahl didn’t seem to respond. Robin huffed, grabbed her ladle again and shoved his sleeping figure a bit more forcefully with it. “Staaaaahl get uuuuuup!” Her teenage groaning didn’t seem to illicit any response either. Stahl simply let out a grumble, covering his face with an arm as he carried on his unperturbed sleep. “Fine. I see how it is.” Robin pulled herself more up onto the back of the sofa, leaning as far as she could to repeatedly tap an uncovered part of his face. He actually seemed to be stirring a bit at that, earning Robin a premature victorious grin, which was suddenly wiped off as Robin found her grip of the sofa loosening, causing her to fall forward onto it. She only had time to let out a small squeak as she barrelled into Stahl’s back. Unfortunately, physics exist, so he ended up being launched off the piece of furniture entirely and landing in a crumpled, startled heap on the white carpet.

“What the…” Robin peeked over the edge to meet the still groggy expression of Stahl, a look of surprise and confusion dashed across his tired features. He glanced around with sleepy, squinted eyes, frowning as he tried to figure out where he was. A look of realisation suddenly lit up his face, then turned back to see Robin. His hazel eyes locked with hers, inducing a guilty smile that pulled at the edges of Robin’s lips.

“Uh… Good morning?” She supplied an awkward laugh. Despite the extremely rude awakening he’d just endured, Stahl’s mouth formed his usual calm smile.

“Is this how you wake up all your guests?” He ran a hand through his messy hair, pulling himself into a sitting position and fixing Robin a familiar mellow expression. Robin leaned against the arm of the sofa, raising an eyebrow.

“No, you got the premium treatment. Not all guys get to be forcibly removed from their beds by a lovely young lady such as me. You should count yourself lucky.” Stahl laughed at her.

“Remind me to never stay over here again.” He managed to stumble to his feet, ruffling up her hair on his way up, and stretched out his arms with a big yawn.

“Suit yourself.” Robin rose from the sofa, conspicuously picking up the ladle and hiding it behind her back. Stahl rubbed his face, catching his eye on the clock that hung above a nearby DVD shelf. He looked mortified as he realised what time it was. Turning back to look at her, Stahl pointed at the timepiece.

“ _Seven in the morning?!_ I don’t even wake up at this time for school!” He shook his head, cowlick bouncing, as he crossed his arms. “Robin, between what just happened and this startling new development, I’m beginning to think you’re trying to kill me.” Robin snorted, beginning to walk out of the room and back to the kitchen.

“Oh stop being such a drama queen. You can sleep after we’ve finished the articles.” She waved a pale hand dismissively over her shoulder. Stahl reluctantly followed her.

“You’re at least going to feed me first, right?” Robin stopped in the kitchen, replacing the ladle back in the utensil pot. She motioned to the cupboards that Gaius had ransacked earlier that week.

“Knock yourself out. Just try not to eat all of our supplies,” The boy’s expression immediately brightened, his lopsided grin betraying his joy at the prospect of breakfast. Robin chuckled at him, walking to the doorframe that led out to the hallway. “I’ll go get my notes. We’ll set up a workspace on the dining table.” She caught a quick nod from him before she began her jog up the stairs, nimbly darting into her room and rummaging through the bag she’d taken with her last night. It only took a few moments of examining the inside of the mostly empty black fabric for her to find the small notebook she’d scribbled things in. Wandering back to the door – then returning to grab a few pens, pencils and pieces of paper from her desk – Robin descended the staircase once again. She stepped back out onto the white tiled floor of the kitchen, locating the round pine dining table and spilling her arms’ contents onto the beige surface. Robin turned back to Stahl who was still stood by the cupboards.

“Alright, ready whenever you ar- Stahl what are you eating,” He looked over at her, blinking innocently as he spilled the contents of some food box into his mouth. Robin squinted at the label. “Is that… Is that porridge? _Raw_ porridge?” Stahl looked back at the box, put it down, then glanced back at her with an oat-filled mouth and shrugged. “What the heck is it with you guys and porridge?” She sighed, resisting the urge to facepalm as she walked over to him and picked up the porridge box. Robin gestured overdramatically at the instructions on the back. “You’re not supposed to eat the stuff raw. You put milk with it, then put it in the microwave, then…” Stahl stared on at her blankly as he continued to chew the mess of oats in his mouth. The girl rolled her eyes, giving up on her porridge lecture and returning the box to the cupboard. “You know what? Nevermind. That’s enough breakfast for you, we need to write these articles.” A sound akin to an upset groan came out garbled through the mostly swallowed oats, but Stahl still followed her to the table.

Sitting down, Robin leaned across the table to grab her notebook and a nearby sheet of paper. Stahl took the wooden seat next to her but was preoccupied with looking around the room, not sparing a single glance to the pieces of stationary in front of him. His lack of focus earned a passive aggressive throat clear from Robin. This pulled the attention of his hazel eyes back to her, shining with curiosity.

“Where are your parents?” The simple and unexpected question caught Robin off guard. She returned his innocent expression with a visibly shocked one; her brows risen a few inches, framing almost comically wide eyes. He stayed quiet as he watched her try to formulate an answer.

“Uh… Not here?” Robin’s voice was small and cracked as she gave an awkward laugh, one hand instinctively trailing up to the back of her neck. It wasn’t exactly a question she was used to – before this year she hadn’t really ever had any friends over. The only other person who she’d encountered in her own home was Gaius, but Jay had already seemingly filled him in on their family situation. The whole topic wasn’t particularly sensitive or anything, it just felt kind of strange for Robin to have to talk about something so personal.

Stahl stayed quiet but didn’t move his expectant gaze, evidently not sated by Robin’s vague answer. Robin chewed the inside of her cheek. It wasn’t very fair of him putting her on the spot like this, especially considering that she barely knew anything about his personal life either. She frowned at the thought and looked back to him, about to scold him, but any retort she had prepared died on her tongue as she met a small, pleasant smile. Robin sighed, relenting.

“My mother’s a top journalist so she travels all over the world to write her stories. She’s out in Valm at the moment, so she’s not home,” Robin tapped a nail on the varnished wood, drawing her eyes to the blank piece of paper in front of her. “Never knew my dad. He left not long after I was born, so not even Jay remembers him,” The rhythmic sound of nail on wood almost masked the short, hollow laugh that escaped Robin’s lips. “So it’s just me and Jay here. For now, anyway. Mum should be back in a couple of months so it’s not too bad.” Robin leaned back in her chair, trying her best to look as nonchalant as possible. She hazarded a glance back to Stahl. He hadn’t worn a pitying expression like she’d expected, instead he just nodded at her coolly with his usual dozy smile.

“I see,” With his simple answer, Robin’s shoulders relaxed a bit. Stahl drew his attention from her and reached out to grab the notebook she’d left on the table. A small smirk flashed across his face as he got to a certain page. “So. What did you think of Chrom in a suit?” He pointed at her scribblings about how boy wonder looked and crimson instantly seared Robin’s cheeks.

_“Hey!_ Give that _back!”_ She stumbled as she tried to grasp it out of his hands, but he easily escaped her by moving his chair back a few inches. Silently she cursed her short limbs. Stahl could only laugh at the embarrassed mess who desperately flailed at him to give her notes back.

“Gotta say, describing him as a literal ‘Prince Charming’ isn’t the most subtle thing you’ve come up with. But I’m sure we’ll find a way to fit it into the article.” Robin wanted to curl up into a hole at his teasing, absolutely mortified that she’d even written that down. She really needed to start monitoring her thoughts more. Sated with her reaction, Stahl finally gave back the notebook which she then snatched desperately out of his hands. He covered his mouth in a vain attempt to stop himself from laughing. Robin’s indignant flush clung to her face, still glaring at him as she clutched the book protectively to her chest.

“D-don’t you dare!” Her voice came out as a cracked squeak. Stahl just grinned at her, putting up his hands as a show of surrender.

“Alright, I won’t,” Robin visibly relaxed, feeling her face cool as she had a moment to catch her breath from her frantic flailing. She cautiously placed the notebook back on the table – mindful to keep it far away from Stahl’s reach – and exhaled in relief. Glancing over at his goofy grin with a still slightly hostile expression, she finally relented a small smile. He knew when and how to change the topic, at least. A few moments of silence passed. “Are you gonna tell me what happened last night? You know. What you did to make Cordelia go crazy.” Robin looked back up at his once again innocent yet curious expression. A spark of warmth sprang to life in her chest as she recalled the feeling of dancing so close with Chrom. It all seemed so long ago and ethereal, but the memory of his hand on hers was too sharp to be a trick of her imagination.

“I got to dance with Chrom!” Robin sat up in her seat, puffing her chest out proudly as she put her hands on her hips. Stahl gave her an encouraging nod and a polite clap at her achievement.

“Ha! That would explain why she was so mad.” He chuckled, leaning his chin on a hand as he tapped the back of a pencil on the table. Robin cleared her throat, her smile widening.

“Not only that! I found out he was only dancing with her because he didn’t actually know how to dance, so he didn’t want anyone else to know,” Stahl ceased his laughter and blinked at her. “Also, to stop her from getting back to dancing with him, before I left I dragged in Olivia to help him out. Jay said she was taking up most of his time, so by the sounds of it I effectively stopped Cordelia from being able to dance with him for the rest of the night!” Robin let out a short, victorious bark of laughter. “How awesome is that?!” Robin crossed her arms across her chest proudly. Stahl, however, went unusually quiet – a thoughtful weight pulling down the sides of his lips into a frown. It was a strange sight to see on him. In fact, the only time she’d ever seen him this quiet was last night when he was talking to Gaius. A creeping sensation of apprehension began to claw its way up Robin’s spine. “Uh… Stahl?” He flicked his unreadable hazel eyes back up to her.

“Mm?” The frown he wore was replaced by a neutral smile. It felt almost cold compared to his usual one, serving only to hasten the taste of doubt pooling at the back of her throat. She paused for a few moments before offering him an awkward chuckle.

“Uh… What do you think of Cordelia?” Stahl didn’t seem to immediately react to her question. That much was a good sign, she supposed. Then again, this boy wasn’t the easiest to read, what with his blasé attitudes and humble deflections. Is no reaction even worse than getting any kind of reaction at all? The boy looked at her thoughtfully, seemingly taking time in preparing an answer for her. After finally picking his words, Stahl opened his mouth to respond.

“Well, I-“ He was immediately interrupted by a light knock at the door. Typical. Robin was going to encourage him to continue anyway, but was shaken from that line of action when she heard the voice of Olivia outside.

“U-um, hello…? I-is anyone awake…? I brought some pictures…” Her muffled squeak was just barely audible through the door, pulling a slightly rueful Robin away from her current conversation. Stahl didn’t seem to care, returning to his quiet and thoughtful demeanour. Opening the door she was met with a familiar pale face framed by braided pink hair. Olivia smiled up at Robin, the small creases by the sides of her lips wrinkling her porcelain features.

“Come on in Liv, seriously thanks for bringing those pictures so early. Although me and Stahl haven’t actually. Uh. Written anything yet.” She gave her a warm smile, stepping back to allow the girl to walk in. The Feroxi ducked her head in thanks and glanced around the home which she was already familiar with due to the previous evening, immediately placing her coat on the nearby rack. Olivia held a small envelope of pictures and started walking to the kitchen, stopping in her tracks as she spotted Stahl. He turned around to regard her with a lazy smile, waving his hand.

“…H-he’s awake? But it’s not even midday yet…!” She cocked her head to one side, violet eyes scrunched in confusion. Robin had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing at the comment, whereas the resident bedhead himself just shrugged.

“Hey, I’m just full of surprises.” He offered a toothy grin.

“Yeah but you’ll be less surprised to hear that it took him falling onto the floor to get him up.” Olivia giggled at Robin’s retort, making her way to the table and taking the seat across from them, giving her a view of their entire workspace. Stahl pouted at Robin momentarily before he quickly glanced back to the paper he should be working on. Robin pulled on a strand of her silvery hair then resumed the seat she’d been sitting in previously.

“I g-got loads of different shots like you… Um, asked,” The pink head pulled the glossy photographs out of the envelope, spreading them across the table so the two could get a better look. Robin picked up the picture of Henry and Sumia, smiling. She then replaced it back in the pile and purposely tried to ignore any prints involving Chrom and Cordelia. “I-I managed to get pictures of all the couples, I think… These are alright, y-yeah…?” The girl fiddled with one of her braids nervously, biting her rosebud lips as she surveyed her handiwork. Robin and Stahl both responded simultaneously.

“These are fine, Olivia.” They caught eachother’s gazes; Robin allowed a goofy smile to escape, whereas Stahl just gave her an indifferent sideways glance. If she didn’t know any better, Robin would surmise that Stahl was angry. Or just not happy. But that was silly – Stahl wasn’t capable of feeling negative emotions. Right? The apprehension from earlier turned into a sinking feeling that began to manifest in her chest. He quickly pulled her out of her thoughts with his usual calm – although it sounded slightly hollow to Robin – tone, smiling pleasantly as he talked.

“How was your dancing experience?” Olivia laughed quietly and shyly at the question, fingers quickly finding the now slightly worn threads of her scarf. Her eyeline quickly trailed to her lap.

“A-after I took those pictures I, um, danced with C-Chrom…” She nodded at Robin at that. Stahl didn’t react. “…But we didn’t really… Uh… Talk. Or… Anything.” Robin looked at her friend with a frown.

“What, like, not at all? You two just stood there in complete silence as you taught him how to dance?” Olivia looked to her with an awkward smile, visibly uncomfortable at recalling the memory.

“Y-yeah… And he stepped on my feet. Um, a lot actually. It was hard walking here.” The girl winced, accidentally kicking one of the table legs with her dainty – and presumably now bruised beyond belief – feet. Robin looked at her sympathetically. It had been bad enough in the few minutes that she’d spent with the boy, Naga knows how horribly he disfigured Olivia for the rest of the evening. To be honest it was still kind of hard to believe that Olivia was proficient in the art of dance. The girl was just so damn shy – yet still she seemed interested in flashy things like dancing and drama. The juxtaposition was almost jarring.

“Mm. Alright, we’d better get this stuff done soon or old man Chrom’ll be disappointed,” Stahl clicked a pen and gave her a look so brief that Robin almost missed it. The faint flecks of green in his eyes were almost hidden by the lashes that covered them, adding an ambiguous, alien quality to his usually candid expression. “We wouldn’t want that now, would we?” The smile that quirked on the one side of his lips was short-lived, disappearing in exchange for a tight line as Stahl began writing away on one of the pieces of paper. Robin was too busy being shell-shocked by the fact that he’d actually encouraged them to start _working_ to dwell on the subtle tease. Something was definitely up with that boy. Was it because she brought up Cordelia? Olivia cleared her throat, oblivious to the sudden tension.

“Okay! I guess I’ll speak to you later…?” She slowly rose from her seat, proffering a soft smile that bunched up small dimples under her eyes. Robin shook herself from her daze and returned the gesture.

“Of course! See you on Monday, Liv. Put your feet up for the rest of the weekend, yeah?” Olivia grimaced at the mention of her injury, even more poignant considering she now had to walk all the way home.

“I-I’ll try...” She weakly waved at the two of them – which Stahl returned with a nod and a brief yet pleasant smile – and took her coat, vanishing out the front door.

Now the two of them were left alone.

About twenty minutes ago this would be absolutely no problem, but now Robin felt almost stifled by the once friendly atmosphere around her. The usual sound of laughter and playful joking was replaced with a heavy silence, punctuated only by the sound of pen on paper. Stahl didn’t even look up at her. Robin spent a few moments watching him, hoping that he’d spring up and make some amusing remark so everything could go back to normal, but he never did.

Robin picked up her own pen and rooted back through her notes, beginning to write one of the articles she’d designated to herself. The unusual turn for joy she’d experienced the previous evening had now been soured by Stahl’s change in attitude; something she’d never expected would be the cause of any bad feelings. Robin buckled down, burying the burdensome weight congealing in her stomach as far down as she could possibly manage.

* * *

The tuneful ring of the doorbell sprung Robin into action. Quickly checking in the nearby mirror for her hair – which she’d totally spent an hour styling but tried her best to make it look as casual as possible – she grinned at her reflection, rushing to the door before Jay had an opportunity to grab it. Robin opened the door and feigned surprise, holding a hand to her mouth.

“Chrom! Oh, I completely forgot you were coming over today!” The boy smiled at her, an eyebrow raised at her apparent forgetfulness. The scant sunlight peeking through the light grey clouds framed his figure in an unearthly glow. 

“Ha, don’t worry, I’m just dropping by. Did you manage to get this week’s issue done?” The low sound of his voice made Robin’s legs cease to function for one short moment, but luckily her faculties returned to her in time for her to turn around and grab the pile of papers.

“Of course! Don’t doubt the tenacity of the Newspaper Club.” She grinned as she handed them over to him. Chrom chuckled in response, giving her a genuine grin as he tucked them under his arm. Robin took the opportunity to drink in the deep blue of his eyes. That boy just didn’t seem to get any less beautiful.

“I should’ve known better, huh?” Robin shrugged, trying to act as nonchalant as possible. He was just about to turn around and start walking away but paused, a growingly familiar awkwardness twisting his smile. “And… Uh, thanks. For Friday, I mean. You helped. A lot. I really appreciate it.” He reached a hand to scratch his neck, his face slowly taking on a shade of pink. Robin felt a sense of accomplishment at his embarrassment.

“Don’t mention it,” Chrom glanced at her, managing to meet her gaze, and quirked a small smile. Robin’s stomach flipped at his reddened expression. “It was fun! Despite the bruising.” His face contorted into a painful cringe at the comment, eliciting a brief giggle from Robin.

“Oh gods, I really am that bad.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes and brow scrunched in regret.

“Hey, at least it shows that you have the ability to improve,” She leaned on the doorframe, putting a hand on her hip as she softened her features. “There’ll be other dances. Don’t worry about it.” Chrom opened his eyes to study her face, frowning thoughtfully. After a moment he brightened up, a dashing and toothy grin emerging.

“You’re right! I’m not _totally_ hopeless,” Determination twinkled like ocean waves in his cerulean eyes, glistening with the tell-tale sign of Chrom-ish optimism. Robin was thankful she’d been leaning on something, otherwise she’d have likely swooned at the sight. “Uh… I trust you’ll be there to help me, right? Next time. When there’s dancing. Again.” He tried his best, but he still managed to trip over some words, face going pinker again.

“You bet.” It was a practically impossible task to try and keep the enthusiasm from her voice. Still, it seemed to encourage the boy, and Chrom beamed at her – another swoon-worthy moment.

“Alright! I’ll see you tomorrow then. Have a nice day!” The blue boy wonder gave her a thumbs up and began walking back down the short cobblestone path that led to their front door. Robin waved after him, having to bite her lip to stop from laughing at his dorky display. She watched him until he disappeared down the street, finally stepping back into the house and sighing happily as she closed the door.

“You two are getting close,” The familiar snarky tone of her brother sounded behind her. Whipping around instantly at the imminent teasing, Robin found Jay stood on the third step of the stairs, arms crossing and eyebrows raised in amusement. Here we go. “Do you think you’ll have an autumn or a summer wedding? I trust I’ll be maid of honour.” He walked down to her, smirking as he stood a few inches above her. Robin scoffed and walked past him towards the kitchen.

“Yeah right. You know me better than that. It’ll be springtime, of course,” She leaned against one of the counters and started recounting one of her many fantasies, a faraway sheen glossing over her golden eyes. “We’ll be out in a lovely green meadow – maybe next to some cherry blossom trees – with lambs and various cute baby animals frolicking about all around us. There’ll be one of those really elegant and not-tacky-at-all white wedding arch covered in blue and white flowers, and all of the guests will be required to wear a flower crown… Made by Lissa, probably. She seems like the type. _Anyway_ , our wedding cake will be two tiered – because three tiered wedding cakes are just plain obnoxious,” Jay nodded sagely, standing across from her and listening to her plans with piqued indifference. “One vanilla flavoured, the other strawberry. Probably covered in jam to keep with the spring aesthetic. The little napkins and plates will be covered in lace and baby duckling prints, also.”

“You know the Ylissean woodlands and meadows are also filled with bears as well as cute lambs, right?” Robin looked at her brother, slightly annoyed he’d dragged her back into the boring land of reality. Jay just pushed up his glasses, his Finch grin widening. “You’d be stood there, reciting your vows, when all of a sudden – a giant raging grizzly jumps out of the treeline, lumbering towards you with murderous intent!” He put up his hands into a paw formation, growling at the air as he imitated a speeding bear. Robin laughed at him as he ‘bounded’ over to her, pretending to maul and claw at her shoulder in a terrible demonstration of her supposed future wedding.

“Ah! But possessing a brother who is so very knowledgeable of the Ylissean fauna, I’d have hired animal control in advance,” She stepped back from him, loading an imaginary tranquilizer gun and taking aim at her brother. He put his paws up in the air in defense, then overdramatically crumpled to the ground as she ‘shot’ him. “Heck, maybe we’d keep it as a reminder of our wedding day. Oh, and serve bear meat at the reception!” Robin kneeled next to her dead brother, who had now stuck his tongue out and splayed across the tile.

“Nothing quite says ‘everlasting love and happiness’ like a dead bear,” Jay gave up the bear act, grinning at his sister, and then pulling himself into the same sitting position as her. Robin nodded in agreement. He’d seemed to have calmed down a bit, a relaxed smile adorning his features as he set his glasses right again. “So… What are you gonna do about all this?” She looked at him curiously, one eyebrow cocked. He ran a hand through his messy, silvery hair. “Well, you’re on Chrom’s good side now, but you’ve still gotta deal with Cordelia. Gods know how much she’ll hate you now.”

“You mean you. You’re the one who stole her away so I could dance with her date.” Jay shrugged.

“That’s true. But I’m not the only one who made it so that she couldn’t get back to her date.” Robin exhaled deeply, frowning. She couldn’t see what the big deal was – Chrom hadn’t been dancing with her out of his own choice or anything. Besides, Cordelia hadn’t exactly been the warmest to her either.

“Pshht, I’m sure everything will be fine. She probably doesn’t care,” Waving her hand dismissively, Robin pulled herself to her feet. “You’ll see. I bet you that by tomorrow lunchtime, she’ll be just the same as ever.”

* * *

The bleachers were as full as ever today. Most clubs had to be cancelled due to the renovation of the hockey field, so the green plastic seats were filled with the majority of their friends. The air filled with the welcoming sound of amiable chatting and joking, the occasional bout of laughter spreading through various parts of the conversations. Virion was in the middle of recounting the story of how he got the worryingly purple welt on his cheek (it wasn’t Sully, surprisingly), an endeavour that had left Lissa holding her now crutchless sides in uproarious hysterics. It even made Tharja crack the tiniest of smiles. Olivia was chatting to Maribelle – probably due to how Robin had pressed the Feroxi to get the details of the girl’s date – and Chrom was discussing something or other with Frederick, Sully and Jay, with the occasional interruptive quip from Gaius.

Tuning in to the other groups surrounding theirs, Robin noted the surprising amount of discussion regarding the dance couples. A surge of pride grabbed hold of her chest as she saw the amount of her fellow students pouring over the week’s edition of _Ylisse Now!_ All were pointing at the various pages and pictures, sharing opinions regarding who they were going to vote for. Naturally, each couple had 2-3 pages of a spread, compiled of the articles her and Stahl had written, various pictures, and comments from the couples themselves. At the last page of the issue they’d included instructions for voting, which simply involved filling in the included ballot card and placing it in the extra postbox they’d set up next to Old Hubba’s. Robin planned to create a spread for every possible winning couple so they’d be fully prepared for any result. Then it’d be a simple matter of including all the usual columns in the week’s issue.

Robin, however, was too distracted by the lack of a certain perfectionist redhead in today’s roster to fully appreciate their success. The girl had been absent all day; strange considering she’d usually join Chrom for handing out the week’s newspaper issue. Robin even saw Sumia, locked in an animated talk with Henry about her upcoming poem, absent of her usual companion. Robin knew Cordelia was a very busy person, she was Head Girl after all, but it didn’t make sense that she’d be gone with everyone else present. She refused to believe that her silly and petty actions on the dancefloor caused this, though.

Robin felt a light shove on her arm, accompanied by the clearing of a throat. She turned to her side to see the concerned face of Stahl sat next to her. At least this was an improvement from Saturday.

“Are you okay? You seem distracted.” She was relieved by the hint of worry in his tone, a far more welcoming sound than his previous indifference. Whatever had come over him must have dissipated. Robin smiled weakly, shrugging.

“Eh, I’m fine. Just kind of…” She grappled for the right word, knitting her brows together. “…Concerned, I guess?” Stahl raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to elaborate. Letting out a dull laugh, Robin sat up in her seat. “I don’t see Cordelia anywhere… But, like, she should be here? I mean, everyone else is.” She carefully looked at him to see his change in expression. He didn’t look around them. Robin inferred this meant he’d already noticed.

“Mmhm. Haven’t seen much of her all day.” Stahl returned his gaze to the empty field below them. She narrowed her eyes, studying his inflections, and desperately trying to figure out what he was thinking. It didn’t work. Robin sighed, deflating more into her seat, throwing up her arms weakly.

“I don’t get it. This couldn’t be because of me – all I did was dance with her date a bit,” Robin frowned and looked at her lap. “Not like he wanted to be with her anyway.” She added under her breath. Stahl visibly flinched – a sight that surprised her – and turned to face her, a very real scowl creasing his usually friendly features. Robin could only stare with wide eyes at this unexpected display.

“You realise that really upset her, right?” His voice was low so as to not attract attention from the other members of their group, but that only accentuated the alien harshness it carried. Robin blinked, dumbfounded, slowly sitting up in her seat. He continued. “Not only did you take away her date – you know, the one she mustered up a lot of courage to ask out – you also blocked any chance of her spending time with him for the rest of the evening. That probably ruined her entire night, Robin.” It was hard for her to grasp that this was Stahl speaking to her. He was never so direct or antagonistic. But still, it was hard to deny that the soft-spoken, easy-going boy she always laughed with and the one chiding her were one in the same. Robin frowned. He was getting upset over nothing.

“It was only for a little bit. Besides, she hadn’t exactly been the nicest to me all week. She kept trying to rub my face in it at every opportunity! I’d say I gave her a much needed serving of karma.” Robin crossed her arms defiantly, raising her chin. Stahl bit his lip, his strange frustration not relenting.

“That’s hardly fair. You couldn’t ask him out anyway, what does it matter?” Robin glared at him, upset that he’d undermine the turmoil she’d gone through the past week.

“Don’t you understand what it feels like to just like someone and… And just to have someone else come along and shove you aside, like you don’t even exist?!” She said it a bit harsher than she meant to, practically hissing at Stahl, feeling her chest get tighter the longer this conversation went on. He paused for a moment, then glanced around them, making sure no one was in close enough earshot to what he was about to say. He turned back to her with the same unhappy expression.

“You’ve liked Chrom for, what – a month tops? Cordelia’s liked him for the past _decade_. Can you imagine how _that_ feels? To have someone just waltz in and achieve more with somebody than you have the whole time you’ve known them?!” Despite his precautions, his voice raised on the last couple of syllables, causing all the conversation around them to cease. Robin was painfully aware that all the attention of their nearby friends was purely focused on them. She hesitated for the slightest of moments, registering the shock on the onlookers’ faces as they caught sight of Stahl’s expression. Robin felt her cheeks grow hot, tears threatening to prick at the edges of her eyes. None of this was okay. This wasn’t Stahl at all. What in Naga’s name had provoked this reaction? It was just Cordelia, for gods’ sakes! Any kind of response she could’ve fired back had completely evaporated on her tongue after seeing the anger on his face dissolve into a look of sadness. Stahl sighed, running a hand through his messy hair, and fixed her an expression that could only be interpreted as disappointment.

“I guess this is what all you journalist types are like, huh? Learn someone’s tics. Pretend to care. Get their information. Then just… Move on. Without really ever trying to _understand_ them,” Stahl stood up, not turning to look at any of their spectators, and grabbed his bag. He gave her a smile – a cold, sunken gesture that strained the sides of his mouth – and shrugged. “My own fault for thinking you were something more.” Without another word or interjection, Stahl walked off down the steps of the bleachers.

Robin could only stare at his retreating figure. Jaw still slack, Robin felt her heart sink, and a familiar painful lump formed at the back of her throat. She still didn’t fully understand what happened. He was just overreacting, right? It was silly to get so worked up over something as petty as this. It wasn’t like she’d done anything _that_ bad, or something directly aimed at him. It didn’t make any sense. After all, this was calm, reasonable Stahl – he was far more likely to break up arguments rather than start them.

The group around her were still lulled into shock by the strange event they just stood witness to. Nobody had even moved, instead they just looked at eachother in confusion, waiting for someone to explain what had just happened. A familiar comforting warmth pressed into Robin’s shoulder, accompanied by a hushed whisper.

“You alright?” She swallowed hard, causing a shooting pain in her throat. Glancing to her shoulder to be met by the face of her brother, she managed a very constrained smile.

“I’m… It’s fine. He’ll get over it,” Robin looked back down at the field to the figure now walking towards the exit. _I hope._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Cordealia continues.
> 
> Woah hey guys guess who's back. Sorry to hit you with the Baseball Bat of Angst with the first issue in ages, but hey-ho, that's what you've got :P  
> I shall be updating pretty frequently, though my progress will be slightly stunted because HEY FIRE EMBLEM FATES CAME OUT IN EUROPE WHEN I WAS AWAY, so I must wade through all the supports to find the best ships >:U  
> BUT YEAH WE'RE GETTING INTO ACTUAL SORT OF PLOT NOW SO GET READY FOR THAT HUH. Also, for the record, writing OoC angry Stahl makes me sad and I hope to god I never have to do it again. I swear there's a Perfectly Good Explanation for his outburst guys, don't hate me pls
> 
> I've also decided to do a little section at the end here to explain the titles (some are more obvious than others) to save you guys interested from googling newspaper-y terms. So, hey. You're welcome.  
> So for today's, generally a 'package' in a newspaper context refers to a multitude of stories under the same theme. So, as implied, this one (and the next few parts) are all about the aftermath from the events/Robin's actions at the dance. And man lemme tell you, it's gonna be one heck of a bumpy ride.


	10. Folo Folly

The sound of hooves pounding across soft grass filled the open space surrounding the lush field, managing to at least in part mask the smell of horses with the more pleasant aromas of the outside and the cool autumn breeze. That said, it was kind of difficult to ignore the more pungent odour of the Equestrian Club’s stables themselves. Holding a pen in one hand and her notebook in the other, Robin regretted not being able to cover her nose while she stood in the wooden building. But even if she could she wondered if Sully would take that as a slight. The redhead herself leaned over one of the occupied stalls, patting the neck of a pristine white mare.

Today officially marked the reopening of the Equestrian Club for the year. The Tuesday afternoon boasted a modest amount of sunshine, which bounced off the manes of the roaming horses as they galloped across the expansive pasture. The club members themselves appeared to be enjoying this time immensely too. Robin spotted a multitude of familiar figures bobbing up and down on the back of their respective mounts: Sumia’s ash brown curls flew around her face as she laughed atop a black steed; Maribelle had tied up her own blonde hair in a tight bun, her sharp features adorned with an uncharacteristic smile as she led her white and black stallion across the way; and she even spotted a very proud looking Frederick galloping across the plains on his own brown thoroughbred.

It was quite the sight to behold, Robin admitted. While she wasn’t partial to the equine species as a whole, she at least admired this group’s evident love of their horses. Each one’s coat shimmered as they moved – a clear sign of how well-looked after they were, she supposed. Olivia stood in the tall wooden doorway to the stable, watching them with a mixture of awe and intense fear. No doubt she still remembered the events of their first day very well. Robin walked over and nudged the Feroxi’s arm, provoking the usual jumpy reaction. Olivia whipped her head around to face her, practically smacking Robin in the face with her hair, but soon calmed as soon as she realised she wasn’t a murderous horse.

“…Th-they’re, um… Quite lovely, aren’t they…?” She smiled meekly, still tossing cautious looks over her shoulder as soon as she heard any hooves get closer.

“Olivia you’re not fooling anyone. Your knees are still shaking.” The girl blinked and cast her eyes down to her legs. Sure enough, the wobble in her limbs still hadn’t subsided from the moment they got there. Olivia looked back to Robin and laughed awkwardly, cheeks growing red.

“I don’t have to get too close to them, d-do I?” She gripped her camera a bit more tightly than she meant to as a whinny sounded out from the other side of the field, accidentally pressing a button and taking a picture of Robin’s slowly growing smirk. She just laughed and shook her shoulder reassuringly.

“Only get as close as you want to. That’s what the zoom’s for,” Olivia sighed in relief, shoulders deflating with the dissipated tension. She couldn’t really blame her for uneasiness – Robin herself didn’t exactly feel comfortable surrounded by the very beasts that ran amok on their first day of school. Still, it was their only lead of the week, and a fitting follow-up to their first story. “Just go out and find a good spot, okay? I’ll be in here interviewing Sully, so if anything goes wrong just come straight back here.” She mustered up her warmest smile. Olivia looked from her, back to the field, then to Sully, before finally nodding.

“R-right…! I’ll do my best!” The rare flash of confidence lit up her violet eyes before she turned on her heel, head held high (relatively speaking) and shakily walked out of the protection of the wooden stable. At the very least, Robin could vouch for the girl’s improvement with her anxiety – about a month ago she’d have probably been too terrified to move from that spot.

“Alright, Robin, I’m ready for this interviewing crap. This ain’t gonna take too long, is it?” Robin turned around, attention drawn by the harsh bark of Sully’s voice. The redhead had pulled out two rickety wooden chairs and sat down on one, arms crossed and brows furrowed. Despite the minimal amount of contact Robin had with the girl, it was easy to see why the guys were all so terrified of her; her short sleeved shirt did nothing to hide the clear definition of muscle in her arms, and her impatient demeanour was an ever-present reminder of the girl’s short temper. Robin forced a smile and took the empty seat, flipping open her notebook.

“Nah. You just need to tell me about what this club’s all about, the members, how you’ve recovered from the previous incident, blah blah blah.” Robin motioned with her pen then shrugged, leaning more on the back of her chair. Sully seemed to calm a bit at the answer, cocking a cheeky grin.

“Right. The _incident_ ,” Sully used air quotes and snorted at the phrase, shaking her head. “Gods, they don’t half make a big deal out of it, do they? With the way people talk about it makes it sound like one of the horses went on a shooting spree or summin’.” Robin chuckled and shrugged.

“One of them did buck Gaius into a window.”

“Eh, he probably deserved it,” Robin conceded her that point. Sully scratched a part of her subtly tanned neck, regarding her curiously with her sharp red eyes, mouth pulled into a pensive pout. The Plegian could only smile awkwardly as she was stared down. Seemingly appeased with her analysis, Sully’s lips upturned into a grin. “Thanks for that article by the way,” Robin couldn’t hide her surprise at the sudden gratitude. The redhead elaborated, chuckling. “Heh, some jerks on the council wanted to shut us down after what happened. I mean, we’re still now restricted to only having the club Tuesdays afterschool, but it’s better than being completely kicked out. Your newspaper showed that it wasn’t our fault at all – explained how that stupid idiot Vaike was the damn cause.” Sully clicked her tongue in annoyance at the memory, a mostly faded flash of rage darkening her features for a moment. Robin blinked. She’d never heard about that. Her feet shuffled uncomfortably as she pulled on one of the longer strands of her silver hair.

“Thanks. But… Uh, I didn’t write that part of the article. Stahl did.” She almost stumbled over his name as she said it, causing her to bite her lip as a jab of guilt wedged in her gut. The whole thing was still a sensitive topic. He’d avoided her all day – not that she particularly felt like seeing him either – which was a pretty clear indication that he had not, in fact, ‘gotten over it’. Robin _was_ going to suck it up and ask him to come interview Sully anyway, but she lost her nerve at the last moment. Maybe it was for the best; if she gave him some time to cool down then perhaps they could just pretend nothing happened and go back to normal. Or was that just wishful thinking? Robin didn’t even know anymore. It had only been a day but the whole situation left a sour taste in her mouth. Sully laughed at her, pulling Robin back to the situation at hand.

“Ha! Figures. Trust that big lummox to do that for me. That boy’s too nice for his own good.” She pulled her lips back in a toothy grin, shaking her head as she continued to chuckle to herself. Her reply caught Robin off guard.

“Are you friends with him?” She’d never seen the two hanging out before. Then again, she didn’t see Sully much at all. From what she heard the redhead was a very busy girl – a member of the majority of the women’s sports teams, no doubt spending the rest of her free time with the horses or training in some way.

“Yep. Known eachother since we were little kids. Heh, he got bullied, so always came running to me with snot dribbling down his nose,” Sully smiled fondly at the memory, then cracked her knuckles. “Of course, they’d never come near him again after _I_ was done with the brats.” She held up a very hefty looking fist, a hint of steel hardening her already piercing eyes. Robin wasn’t sure whether she should be impressed or intimidated given the fact Sully stood witness to her and Stahl’s fight the previous day. Both. Probably both. Still, the image of a small Sully hurling abuse at some kids as a sobbing Stahl hid behind her was pretty cute.

“Sounds like you two made quite the pair,” Robin smiled sadly to herself, getting swept up in her own experiences – strange how times had changed, Stahl was now the one having to come to his friends’ rescue. She snapped out of it before she could start getting all broody again. Clicking her pen, she addressed a more upbeat Sully. “So. The club. All your guys’ horses are kept here, right?” The redhead nodded, pointing over her shoulder to the line of stalls, each with a nameplate engraved into the doors.

“We come in and look after them as often as we can. A bit trickier on holidays, but one of us comes in with the school’s caretakers to sort ‘em out usually once a day,” Robin began scribbling away in her notes. “Since they’re pretty expensive Maribelle invests some of her family’s personal cash to help out. Heh, I know, who’d have thought she could actually be generous?” Robin’s momentary surprise was easy to read, causing Sully to chortle. “Goes to show that having the resident rich kid in your club can come in pretty handy.”

“It’s a good thing she loves horses more than she does most people,” Robin’s quip earned a brief bark of laughter from Sully. She glanced past Sully’s shoulder, down the line of stalls. “So the club has you, Maribelle, Sumia and Frederick…” A frown – a facial expression that was becoming increasingly more familiar on Robin’s face – resurfaced as she saw that not one, but two horses were still in their place. She instantly recognised one as Sully’s murder horse; the dark stallion seemed to glare back at her from its position at the end of the line. Turning back to Sully, Robin pointed at the white mare she saw her attending to her earlier. “Whose is that?” Sully followed the direction she was gesturing to.

“Oh. That’s Cordelia’s.” Robin stopped her writing and stared at the horse, eyes squinted. It was very beautiful – probably the most elegant looking one here, its grey mane long but well-groomed. The nameplate below it even had lovely cursive writing. She glanced over her shoulder back to the open doorway, thankful to find that the girl in question hadn’t shown up. Feeling a sudden sense of paranoia, Robin questioned Sully.

“Uh, is she coming today…?” The redhead shrugged, scratching her head as her lips turned into a reflective scowl.

“Don’t think so, haven’t really seen her since Friday. Probably came in earlier to check on her horse or summin’.” Robin exhaled in relief, then immediately felt a pang of guilt. Not many people had seen Cordelia at all since the start of the week. She didn’t show up again at lunchtime again today either. As much as it pained Robin to admit it, it looks like Stahl was right: she was the reason Cordelia was avoiding everyone. But was there really something Robin could do about it? She tapped the back of her pen on her notepad, lips pushed out into a contemplative pout.

“Uh, Robin…?” A small voice accompanied by a sniffle pulled Robin’s attention to the open door where Olivia now stood. Her camera hung limply around her neck as the girl pawed at her wet nose and eyes, the latter seemingly very bloodshot. Robin immediately rose from her seat and walked over to the girl, trying to figure out what was wrong.

“Oh my gods, Olivia, are you okay?! Are you crying? Did one of those horses get too close to yo-“

“N-no,” She sniffed again, looking to Robin with very blurry eyes. “Where I sat to t-take pictures… There was a flower… f-flower pa-“ Her sentence was cut off by a very loud and immediate sneeze. Robin could glean how this happened. Olivia’s allergies had apparently not improved since the first day Henry showed up at the club room.

“It’s alright, I just finished getting all the notes we need. Now let’s get you home before you scare all the horses away,” The Feroxi only managed to nod before having to bury herself in her scarf, body jumping as she let out another torrent of sneezes. Robin turned to smile at Sully. “Thanks again for letting us come here for a follow-up.” The redhead was stood leaning against one of the stall doors, arms crossed with a toothy grin.

“Hey, no big deal. You gals are welcome here any time.” The two left the stables to a wide wave and friendly wink from Sully, trying their best to skirt around any flowering wildlife on the way. In the distance Robin could’ve sworn that she heard the familiar sound of Frederick chastising Sumia for something or other. Olivia cast a sideways glance at her, eyes now mostly recovered from the vicious pollen attack.

“I don’t g-get it…” Robin blinked and turned to the unusually intense stare of Olivia’s violet hued eyes. She nervously wrung her fingers around an ever growing hole between the white threads of her scarf. Managing to maintain her eye contact, the Feroxi’s voice strengthened a bit. “You said you didn’t have any friends in your old school… Um, right…? B-but you don’t seem to have trouble making them here…” Robin felt uncomfortable about the direction this conversation was going. Olivia took a deep breath and finally finalised her question. “S-so… How can that be…?” The two paused their stroll on the edge of the grassy field verging on the familiar cobblestone that lead to the front gate of the school. Robin felt a couple of her fingers twitch nervously, so ran her hand up to scratch her neck. This was definitely not a topic she wanted to discuss given the crumbling state of one of her current friendships.

“Isn’t that kinda obvious now? You know, given the whole… Er, Stahl thing,” She gestured limply and managed a small, unconvincing laugh. Olivia preserved her stare, evidently hesitant about her explanation. A couple seconds of silence passed before Robin finally sighed, casting her gaze to her feet to escape from the Feroxi’s unrelenting eyes. “Alright, alright. I mess up a lot, as we already know, but… One time it was a lot worse than the others, okay?” She kicked a nearby rock that skittered across the path, turning to face Olivia as she grew antsier. “That time was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and _definitely_ with the wrong people.” Robin still couldn’t bring herself to talk about her last school despite the amount of months that had passed – the very thought made her feel sick. Thankfully, Olivia seemed sated with her response, offering a soft smile. She didn’t say anything. Instead, she just reached out one of her delicate porcelain hands to Robin’s own, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Robin returned the sentiment, only able to manage a small, sad turn up of her lips. They stood with their hands clasped together for a few moments, Robin allowing her previous anxiety to dissolve with Olivia’s comfort, then silently made their way off the school grounds.

* * *

Tapping her foot impatiently, Robin waited for the morning’s form class to end. It was curious how today’s usual twenty minutes seemed to pass at a much slower rate; seconds seemed to last for minutes, minutes lasted for several more minutes… The booming laughter of Gregor was the only reminder she had that time was progressing normally.

After the previous afternoon’s trip to the Equestrian Club, Robin wrote up her rather messy transcripts and notes into a more comprehensive format. This was mostly due to the fact that she knew that – despite her current situation – she still had to get Stahl to write the week’s article, and she did _not_ want that boy to think that she’d fallen behind in her note-taking skills. In fact, that was the reason why the morning seemed to be going so agonisingly slow. After a whole day of seeing neither head nor hide of that boy, she had English first lesson. One long uninterrupted hour of being sat next to her previous bosom buddy awaited her. She wasn’t sure whether she should act angry, indifferent or go on as usual. Preferably she’d like to take the third option, although she wasn’t sure whether he’d return the sentiment.

“Robin if you bite your lip any harder I’m afraid you’re going to tear it off.” The usual Jay snark came in loud and clear despite her clouded thoughts. She released her lip from her teeth, feeling the chapped skin start to swell.

“Would it kill you to go a day without making jokes at my expense?” The tired venom in her voice only made the boy grin. He leaned back in his wooden chair, peering at her over the rims of his glass lenses.

“I don’t know, but I’m not willing to find out,” Robin scoffed, rolling her eyes in an attempt to act angry with him. In classic Jay fashion he saw right through her. The bell for the day’s first lesson finally sounded, signalling for the leave of all their surrounding students. As Robin rose to her feet she slid her tongue over her bottom lip. She tasted a hint of iron. Great. Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she felt a small tug on her elbow as they neared the door. “English first, right?” Robin nodded as Jay moved in front of her.

“Unfortunately. This is going to be one of the most awkward hours of my life,” She chuckled humourlessly, going to move past her brother but immediately stopped by the serious look he gave her. There was a strange sternness in those golden globes of his. “I’m gonna try and just act normal. Maybe joke around a bit, throw in a few bad puns, and just try not to mention Monday.”

“You have a habit of running away from your problems, you know.” His voice was quiet, lacking the usual jolly intonation. Robin ‘lovingly’ referred to this as his Daddy Jay Voice™. She sighed, trying not to focus on how the hallway was becoming increasingly emptier.

“And what the heck does that mean?” Robin turned to him, hands on hips, voice flat-toned. Two could play at this game. Jay seemed unfazed, pushing up his glasses.

“He’s obviously upset by the whole thing. You can’t just expect him to pretend like nothing happened or that he doesn’t feel bad emotions.” Jay crossed his arms, eyes fixed on her as he watched her begin to fidget. Robin bit her now sore lip.

“But it’s… It’s _Stahl._ ”

“Yeah, exactly. Stahl. The guy who literally saved you from drowning after pulling him around on a silly, pointless excursion.” Robin flinched, guilt cascading down her chest in waves. She glanced to her feet, unable to look at the austerity of his face anymore.

“…What am I supposed to do to fix this?” Her voice was small, completely devoid of any bite it held previously. She heard a deep sigh.

“Apologise, silly!” A hand clamped down on her head and began tussling her hair rigorously. Shocked by this new development, Robin began flailing around in an attempt to wrestle the arm from her silvery locks.

“Ow, ow, Jay, knock it off, I’ve got to go to a _lesson_ now!” He laughed as he finally pulled away, admiring the masterpiece he’d created. Robin desperately tried to set the bird’s nest right, managing it somewhat, and dropping her arms to her side. She frowned at the familiar obnoxious smile that sat across his features. Jay tucked his hands in his pockets and held his gaze on her face for a moment.

“You’re so naïve.” He shook his head, smile still present, and nudged her with his shoulder. Robin held her pout as she stood up straight, finally beginning her walk to class alongside her doofy big brother.

* * *

It didn’t take long for her to find her way to the familiar English classroom. She stood outside the door, taking deep breaths as she mentally prepared herself for what she had to do. If Robin was being honest she still didn’t fully grasp why he was so upset about what she did to Cordelia, but she did at least recognise that she hadn’t exactly been treating Stahl with the respect he deserved. After all, he’d done so much for her since she joined the school – it seemed wrong to discount his feelings when he tried so hard to preserve her own. Surely that was enough, right?

Robin glanced up and down the empty hallway; a reminder that she was also going to have to deal with the usual rage of Mrs. Phila. The moment she’s done being humiliated and possibly emotionally scarred by her teacher’s scolding she will sit next to Stahl and apologise for how she’s been acting towards him – specifically pertaining to the events of Monday. Yes, then she’ll thank him for all the nice things he’s done for her, and he’ll accept her back with open arms and they can put the whole thing behind them. This couldn’t possibly go wrong. Stahl’s an understanding guy, after all. Robin smiled as she opened the door.

Instantly everything had gone wrong.

As opposed to the usual reaction of everyone turning to stare at her, they were all talking amongst eachother as Mrs. Phila sat at her desk. The white haired woman glanced up from her pile of essays and raised a disapproving eyebrow at Robin, who stared blankly at this confusing turn of events.

“Miss Finch, how nice of you to turn up. It would be a pleasant surprise if one of these days you actually appeared to this class on time.” Robin shuffled her feet self-consciously, casting the teacher a guilty smile.

“Sorry, Miss.”

“Save me the innocent act,” She beckoned Robin over, who complied and stood awkwardly by the teacher’s desk. The woman tapped her fingers on her pile of papers and gestured to the teens with her free hand. “We’re doing paired work today on writing transcripts.” At the word ‘pair’ Robin instantly turned to scan the crowd of her classmates. As she was late, the majority of the pairs had apparently been decided between them. She spotted a familiar mess of olive-brown hair and smiled, about to leave her position by Mrs. Phila’s desk before she realised he was already in a jovial conversation with someone else. Stahl chuckled as he was sat on a desk next to some brown haired, plain looking boy who Robin swore she had never seen before. Maybe he sat in the back of the class? Her disappointment sagged her shoulders, feeling slightly bitter at this turn of events. Of _course_ this had to be the one day they were doing paired work. Her teacher had apparently anticipated this, clearing her throat and sitting up in her desk chair. “Luckily for you, Miss Finch, we happen to have an even number of students.” Robin turned her attention back to the woman.

“Oh? Who am I with then, Miss?” The white haired woman flicked her mahogany eyes to a table near the back of the room that was empty save for one person. Robin sighed and nodded at her teacher, begrudgingly walking towards the table. She continued to keep her gaze locked on the smiling visage of Stahl as she made her way across the room, noting that he hadn’t once turned his head in her direction. Trying to ignore the cocktail of disappointment and irritation pooling in her stomach, Robin turned to her new cohort. Then turned her gaze down.

“Hey, nice to meet you! My name’s Ricken. Guess we’re partners, huh?” He was short. Very short. The only thing that in any way helped you think that maybe he wasn’t _that_ short was the almost comically oversized teal beanie he wore over his auburn hair. The other thing that struck Robin about his appearance was that he also looked very young; his big brown eyes and dimples did not match that of the 16-18 year olds that comprised this school’s student body.

“Uh… Yeah. I’m Robin,” The usual happy tone that Robin held in her voice when she was addressing someone new was replaced with almost a whisper as she narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing the boy’s appearance. Ricken’s smile faltered a little. He looked like he was used to this. “How old are you?” Robin finally voiced the elephant in the room after a few more agonising seconds of silence. Ricken sighed, slumping back in his chair.

“Fifteen. You got a problem with that? I’m just as smart as the rest of you! Gods, why does everyone think I’m a little kid?!” The boy crossed his arms and stuck out his cheeks in a pout, beanie falling down to his face with the sudden movement. Robin couldn’t help but snicker at the display.

“Aw, you’re adorable!” Ricken immediately jumped up in his seat and pulled his hat off, revealing a cowlick similar to Stahl’s. His face was crimson as he scowled at Robin’s comment.

“Am _not!”_ Robin had to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing at his childish comeback. The boy furrowed his eyebrows even more. However his facial expression softened after a spark of realisation flashed in his eyes. Tentatively, he began putting his beanie back on. “Wait. Robin Finch, right?” Robin could only nod, rubbing away some of the laugh-induced tears from her eyes. Ricken lit up at her confirmation. “You write the newspaper!” Robin managed to pull herself together enough to be surprised at his enthusiasm.

“Yeah. That’s me, alright.” A grin began to emerge on the boy’s face before he caught himself, pulling on his beanie as he ever-so-subtly tucked away the week’s edition of ‘ _Ylisse Now!_ ’ back in his open schoolbag. Ricken cleared his throat, gaining his composure.

“Well, if you must know, I’m kind of a child prodigy,” Robin raised her eyebrows at the boy who in return cast her a bold grin. “So I got moved up to this school a year early.” He rubbed his nose, chest puffed out in pride as he recounted his backstory. This piqued Robin’s interest; child prodigies were always interesting stories to run.

“Are you super brainy then?” Ricken nodded, dimples popping out as his grin grew.

“Yep! Never gotten below 100% in any project I’ve done,” He paused, the shadow of a frown passing over his expression. “…Unless it involves sport. In which case I’ve never gotten above 30%. But just you see, by the end of this year I’ll be as popular and sporty as Chrom!” Robin smiled, resisting the urge to pinch Ricken’s cheeks. She tried to imagine him with the same physique and dashing smile of Chrom, but when she turned to see his short legs kicking happily and his big eyes sparkling, the image was lost.

“Looks like I’m lucky that I’ve got you for a partner then,” Ricken nodded at her comment, a cocky smile splashed across his childlike features. Robin cast her eyes to the piece of lined paper he’d set up on his desk, the transcript title written out and underlined neatly. “Good thing, too. Mrs. Phila hates me so I’ve never gotten above a C in this class so far. I’m gonna enjoy getting 100%.” Robin finally took her bag off, unzipping it as she pulled out her stationary. Ricken’s eyes sparkled at her faith in him.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this!” He pulled the cap off of his biro and started scribbling away on the paper, tongue stuck out in concentration. Robin couldn’t help but giggle at his determination.

“You know, I can help if you want.”

“That’s not necessary. You can just sit back, relax, and watch me work my magic.” Robin couldn’t argue with that. She reached out to grab the stationary she’d just set out and turned back to her bag, but paused as she saw the polly-pocket of notes she’d made for Stahl stick out of one of the compartments. Robin fought the urge to bite her lip again as she glanced over to the table he was sat at. He chatted amiably with his own partner, as well as the nearby pairs sat on adjacent tables. Robin knew she shouldn’t feel jealous, but still the feeling flopped around in her stomach anyway. To be honest, she hadn’t really considered that he had friends outside of who she knew. Which, in hindsight, was a very silly assumption - he was a really nice and friendly guy, after all. A knife twisted in her gut as she heard Stahl’s warm, resounding laugh in response to some joke a nearby person made. Robin turned back to her bag and threw her pens in it, zipping it up immediately.

She’d apologise to Stahl. Just… Maybe she’d do it later instead.

* * *

Breaktime had arrived quicker than Robin had anticipated. Although it hadn’t helped that she’d spent the whole of her Media lesson completely zoned out until the end of lesson bell snapped her out of her totally-not-Stahl-related stupor. This was getting ridiculous. She glanced to her schoolbag which she had neatly seated next to her on her table in the canteen, currently empty as she looked around for her friends. Regardless of whether she was going to talk to Stahl or not, she had to get those notes to him. She wasn’t going to endanger the newspaper because of her own problems.

“Heya Robin!” Right on cue, Lissa bounced into view, skipping to the empty seat opposite Robin on the table. Ever since she had her crutches taken off the blonde had seemed even more energetic than usual – a feat she’d previously doubted was even possible. Her pigtails bobbed up and down as she swayed her legs under the table.

“Sup Lissa. Having a good day?” Robin couldn’t help but smile in her presence. Lissa nodded enthusiastically, literally leaning on the edge of her seat as she rested her elbows on the table.

“You bet! Lon’qu’s taking me on a skateboard lesson tonight,” Her green eyes shone with excitement, transforming them into emeralds. “I _was_ gonna hang out with Maribelle, but now she’s tutoring Donnel. English or elocution or something like that.” Robin resisted the urge to smirk at the Donnel comment. She was going to have to tease the prissy blonde about it later.

“Oh really? How are the lessons with Mr Super Skateboarder going?” Robin placed her chin in her palm, an eyebrow raised as she watched Lissa’s sunny smile grow even wider.

“ _Awesome!_ I can actually, like, _ride_ on a board without falling off it now!” Fist pumping the air in celebration, Lissa let out a ‘woop’ of victory. Robin laughed at the blonde’s typical silly antics. The girl really knew how to brighten up a mood. “…But he’s busy for some reason this weekend. Won’t say why.” Her smile slowly faded into a pout, tracing the wood grain of the table with a finger. Robin shrugged.

“He’s not exactly the most open of guys. It’s not unusual that he wouldn’t tell anyone what he’s doing.” Lissa sighed overdramatically and flopped back into her chair.

“I _suppose_ you’re right…” Robin offered her a reassuring smile, which the blonde returned with a cautious look. She slowly sat up. “Hey, so… How’s the whole…?” Lissa gestured vaguely, wearing a tentative expression as she met Robin’s eyes with her own. The Plegian sighed.

“Not awesome, but I’ll figure it out. Oh! Which reminds me,” Robin unzipped her bag and pulled out the notes she still hadn’t given to Stahl, hands almost fumbling with the plastic pockets. “Do you have any lessons with Stahl today?” Lissa nodded, reaching out to grab the notes.

“Yeah, I’ve got History with him next, actually! I’ll give these to him before Miss Miriel starts going on about Prince Marth again,” She offered a cheeky grin before carefully putting the paper inside her own bag. “Buuut in return you have to tell me the results of the couple’s poll!” Robin rolled her eyes, a smile playing on the edges of her lips.

“If you drop by afterschool on Friday you can help us count the votes if you’d like.” The blonde nodded enthusiastically, swinging her legs again.

“It’s a deal!” Lissa started giggling at the exchange before suddenly going quiet, staring at something over Robin’s shoulder. Pausing, Robin followed the girl’s gaze.

Stood directly behind her seat was a tall girl with dark skin and long, brunette hair that reached her waist. Robin swore she recognised her from somewhere. The girl had her arms crossed and a stern expression, seemingly waiting for their conversation to end.

“…Can I help you?” Robin began uncertainly, turning around in her seat to face the girl. She flicked her maroon eyes over the two of them before settling on Robin with a keen interest.

“Robin.” The girl’s voice was low and smooth. Robin blinked dumbly.

“Yes?”

“Come with me.” Robin tossed a confused glance back over her shoulder at Lissa, who just shrugged. She looked just as lost as she felt. Turning back, Robin rose an eyebrow.

“Uh. Who are you?” The girl paused for a moment, expression hardening. By the slight twitch in her eye Robin would guess she was annoyed, but it was hard to tell with her almost impassive face.

“Panne. Unimportant. Come with me.” The pieces clicked in her mind at the mention of her name. She was the girl who’d been the DJ in the dance, though other than that Robin had never really seen her before. Figuring she didn’t really have anything to lose, she rose to her feet.

“Okay then, Panne, lead the way.” Panne nodded and turned towards the door at a slightly faster pace than Robin had anticipated, not even leaving her with any time to say goodbye to Lissa.

Panne took long strides when she walked, which took about two full steps from Robin to just keep up. They travelled in silence along the cobblestones, passing by various students casually chatting about their mornings, leading in a direction Robin wasn’t all that familiar with. It didn’t take long to reach their destination. The brunette finally came to a stop outside a building Robin didn’t instantly recognise. Panne turned and leaned against the door frame, arms crossed over her deep purple tank top. Robin stared at her, unsure of what she was supposed to do.

“Uh… Where are we?”

“Music rooms.” Robin bit her lip – an action which rewarded her with a metallic taste – as she recalled the only time she’d been in this area was when she went by the lake. She wasn’t exactly musically gifted so she’d never really needed to come here before.

“Why are we here, exactly?” Robin chuckled awkwardly, which Panne met with a stern silence.

“You need to see something,” She gestured to the door with her head, long hair sashaying around her hips. “Go in.” Knowing that asking more questions wouldn’t get her anywhere, Robin stayed silent and walked in through the doorway. Inside looked like pretty much any other hallway in the school. The walls were lined with various colourful posters enthusing about music, or ones displaying schedules for lessons with certain instruments. She stood in the middle of the tiled floor, unsure about what she was supposed to do. The place was empty.

Just as Robin was about to turn around and leave, a sound caught her ear. It was soft and muffled by one of the doors, but still undeniably beautiful. She followed the source of the music to one of the classrooms further down the hall, standing outside with her hand on the doorknob and debating whether to go in or not. Was this what Panne had meant? She was being cryptic as heck so it was kind of hard to tell. It’s not like she had anything to lose though. Steeling herself, Robin opened the door as quietly as possible.

Inside the classroom was your standard fare; a few instruments were scattered across the sides of the room, along with a hefty amount of electronic keyboards laid out at specific intervals covering the majority of the room’s area. What caught her attention, however, was the person playing a golden harp at the far end of the room. Sat there, deaf to the world outside her music, was Cordelia. Her eyes were shut, and her red hair fell about her as she played, swaying as she deftly moved her arms up and down the instrument, plucking strings with phenomenal finesse. Robin could only stand in the entrance, watching the display. Now that she could clearly hear the music, it sounded… Sad. The notes were low and sorrowful; the tempo tumbling through a vast spectrum of feelings that Robin could only begin to imagine.

Robin finally massed the courage to take a few steps closer to the harpist. Dodging through the ranging musical equipment, she finally found herself a chair situated not far from where Cordelia played. Robin noted that her face seemed a lot more worn out than usual – the tell-tale dark bags hanging mournfully under her closed eyes. She also saw that her usually perfectly groomed hair now hung in messy waves, odd hairs sticking out in random directions. Even her hairclips looked asymmetrical today. It was strange to see Little Miss Perfect so… Well, imperfect. It was equal parts reassuring and worrying. Robin frowned to herself and moved to lean her elbow on a nearby table, but then – in typical Robin fashion – slipped and ended up slapping a few keys on a keyboard, which just so happened to be turned on. She didn’t even have time to curse herself before she saw Cordelia’s crimson eyes snap open. There was a moment of still silence; Robin’s eyes locked with hers. Then the ruby pools filled with a familiar sense of animosity.

“ _You._ What are _you_ doing here?” Cordelia practically spat at her, removing her hands from the harp. Robin began to panic. She hadn’t thought this through. Was she supposed to set things right? To be honest, the mere experience of seeing Cordelia in a less than perfect state had set Robin off kilter. She barely knew the girl and she could sense something was wrong. If Robin was the one who did this to her then that would definitely explain why people were so upset with her. Did she seriously like Chrom _that_ much?

“You must like Chrom a whole lot, huh?” Robin’s voice sounded cracked, but she still managed to force the question out. A flash of annoyance flared up in Cordelia’s face.

“Of course. I’ve loved him since I was six.” Robin’s eyes grew wide at her response, to which Cordelia just huffed. Stahl wasn’t kidding when he said she’d liked him for over a decade. It was an alien concept to Robin, considering how almost all of her previous crushes had been extremely short-lived. She hadn’t really believed it, but – despite the girl’s transparent malice towards her – Cordelia looked like she was being completely honest. The familiar pool of guilt bubbled back up in Robin’s stomach, stronger than ever. No wonder Cordelia hated her.

“Was… Was that dance the first time you’ve gone out with Chrom?” Robin hesitantly tried to make eye contact but failed, her chest tying in knots. Cordelia went to respond with what seemed like a biting retort then stopped. She pressed her unusually chapped lips together in a straight line, then spoke candidly.

“Yes. It was. Together, anyway,” The girl sighed and looked to her lap, all hostility washed away. She looked completely defeated. “Not that he even saw it as a date.” Cordelia pulled a couple of strands of her red bangs out of her eyes, pushing them behind her ear only to have them fall in front of her face again.

“I…” Robin faltered, turning her gaze to her lap. She really had screwed it all up. After all these years trying to pluck up the courage to ask him out, Robin just came in and wrecked it all without a second thought. Gods, she was so selfish. Robin ran her tongue over her cracked lips, trying to find the strength to regain her voice. “…I’m _so_ sorry, Cordelia.” Her apology came out only a little louder than a whisper, ushering in another silence. Robin nervously glanced up. The red haired girl had directed her attention to her harp, a deep melancholy etched into the sad carnelian depths of her eyes.

“You’re truly sorry?” Cordelia flicked her eyes to Robin, her voice soft and tired. She felt herself freeze for a moment, but then slowly nodded. Cordelia paused. “Then stop your crush on Chrom.” The firmness returned to her voice, taking Robin aback.

“Cordelia, I’m sorry, but I can’t just stop liking someone.” Her voice strained, feeling her heart sink somewhat at the new direction this conversation had taken. Robin wanted to put the whole ordeal behind them, sure, but she couldn’t lie – her emotions just didn’t work that way. Cordelia looked genuinely upset at her response, her frown returning as she looked back to her harp.

“Then I’m afraid I cannot associate with you.” The tone was forced and cold, similar to their first interaction. Robin felt a sense of desperation overcome her.

“But Cordelia-“

“ _You don’t understand!”_ She cut her off, standing up and directing a piercing glare at her, rooting Robin to her spot. Her voice had now turned into a growl. A small gasp escaped Robin’s lips at the sudden change in demeanour. Cordelia squeezed her eyes shut tight, pressing her fingers into her temples. “I need… I need to be…” She made a deep intake of breath, sat back down, then exhaled. “Just. Leave.” Robin opened her mouth to protest but any words quickly died on her tongue. There wasn’t anything she could do to fix this. Instead, she slowly rose to her feet and made her way to the door as quietly and swiftly as possible. She stole one last glance at the redhead. Cordelia sat, staring listlessly at the beautiful golden instrument. Robin could only describe the expression she wore as completely and utterly crushed. Without another word Robin found the door handle, pulled it, and walked out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That went well.  
> Also I totally support the headcanon that all the girls are at least a little bit gay for Sully. That girl is just too awesome, man.  
> As for today's title, it's seriously simple - folo literally just means follow-up. Though I had to resist the urge to call it 'Foalo Filly' - the horse puns must be stopped. And just a head's up, guys, the next chapter is probably gonna be super long. Plot will be happening O:


	11. On The Beat

All of the desks in the Newspaper Club’s room were covered in voting slips. A surprising amount of the student populace had taken a keen interest in the choice of the dance’s ‘Best Couple’, leading to the inevitable nightmare of sorting out counting the votes. This nightmare is what Robin had now found herself in the middle of. She sat at her own desk, reading and marking down each vote one by one from her pile, an impressive tally chart sprawled across her notepad. Taking up temporary residence on a few of the other desks were Gaius and Jay who volunteered to help out, as well as Lissa, Olivia and Tharja who slowly made their way through their own heaps. Henry, Sumia and Chrom had been resigned to the sidelines to avoid any bias (though Robin sincerely doubted they’d feel the need to tamper the results). The room was silent save for the occasional peep from Lissa after getting a papercut.

“Alright, here’s what I got, Squeak,” Gaius was the first to finish, stretching out his arms as he rose to his feet. Lazily tossing his piece of paper to the side of Robin’s own, the boy scooted around her desk to watch her work. “Looks like it’s gonna be a close one.” He muttered under his breath, biting the inside of his cheek as he saw her finish counting the last of her pile. Robin sighed, running a hand through her silver hair.

“You can say that again.” Adding up both her and Gaius’ lists revealed that two of the couples were neck and neck – three members of which were stood watching anxiously from the door. Regardless of the outcome, Robin had written out a two page spread for each of the couples. The vote simply decided which one they would include in the issue. They all included rather long-winded descriptions of the couples themselves, along with details pertaining to how they ended up going with eachother to the dance in the first place. Olivia had spared no expense in tracking them down for photoshoots throughout the week, an amazing feat considering the girl could barely find the courage to speak to people most of the time.  Robin also planned to use comments taken from the voting slips themselves, which she’d stick on after they finished counting them.

While Henry and Sumia’s spread had been a breeze to whip up, Robin had struggled writing Chrom and Cordelia’s. She’d began the framework earlier in the week – an impersonal and cold piece that Robin had tried her best to write without bias – but ended up scrapping it entirely after her confrontation with Cordelia. Instead, she spent all of Wednesday night creating a new spread; Robin had written in length about how the two were an indispensable asset to the school, about how they had been working together in some way or another since they were young. Robin even spent the majority of her free time on Thursday researching the multitude of events they’d planned the previous year, before they even became Head Boy and Girl. Not to mention she finally managed to grit her teeth and wrote a whole paragraph detailing on how good the duo looked together. Despite Olivia’s best efforts, however, she’d only managed to get one new picture of Cordelia after joining Maribelle for orchestra rehearsal; it encapsulated a melancholic and beautiful Cordelia, eyes shut while in the middle of a piece. A part of Robin really wanted Chrom and Cordelia to win so that she could show the girl how sincere she was being in her apology, and hopefully make the redhead feel a bit better about the mess she’d landed her in. Then again, there was the chance that the article would make her feel worse, perhaps rubbing salt in her already painful wounds. Robin was finding this whole ‘trying to understand other people’s feelings’ malarkey difficult.

“Here,” Tharja dropped her piece of black paper on the desk, tallies counted in the silver ink the Goth insisted on using. “There’s the results or whatever.” She shifted her attention to her black nails, leaning on the front of Robin’s desk. For the past couple of weeks Tharja had made herself right at home in the club room – some may argue a little _too_ right at home. Everyone had been too scared to question her on the Ouija board tablecloth she’d opted to drape over her desk, or the black candelabra she used instead of a desk lamp. Robin bit the end of her pen and pulled Tharja’s results with the other two sheets, scribbling down her sums as she added them all up. She felt Gaius hovering close by over her shoulder. No doubt he was wishing for the head team duo to lose.

“Squeak you need to carry the one here.”

“I already did that, Gaius.”

“Okay but what about _this_ one. And you missed out a whole line, here!” The ginger haired boy leaned over her desk, blocking any sight of the results. Robin tried to wrestle him away but failed catastrophically, ending up shoved back in her chair and watching him count. His catlike eyes flicked between the figures with increasing desperation. Lissa, Olivia and Jay finished their own piles within the space of an additional minute, plopping their results in front of Gaius.

Everyone stood around the desk in a hushed, tense silence as they watched him count. Robin shuffled her chair to the side so she could finally sneak a glance at the list of workings out that Gaius had amassed, his brows creased as he moved onto the last set of results. She hazarded a look to the total he had so far. The two pairs had an identical amount of votes. Gaius paused, staring at the final figures, before slowly turning to address the crowd gathered opposite the desk. The boy cracked a grin, leaning on the side of Robin’s chair and seemingly summoning a strawberry flavoured lollipop out of thin air.

“Henry and Sumia.” The familiar purr of his voice cut through the quiet lull the room had fallen into. It took a few moments for everyone to register it. The pair in question slowly turned to eachother, eyebrows raised, then simultaneously let out a victory cheer.

“We won!” The two high-fived, the rest of the spectators wooping and congratulating them.

“Well done, guys!”

“Man, I still bet I would’ve won if I got a date!”

“Does this mean we can finally leave? I’ve been stuck with these buffoons for like half an hour now.” Robin smiled at the happy display, ignoring Tharja’s retort. Jay patted Henry’s shoulder and gave him a nod of acknowledgement, while Olivia attempted to steady a somewhat lightheaded Sumia. She turned to Gaius and saw a welcoming grin spread across his face.

“You seem pleased for the happy couple.” The boy trailed his eyes to her knowing smirk. He shrugged, draping a nonchalant arm around her shoulders as he leaned closer to her ear.

“Mostly. Though I can’t say that I’m not happy that I won’t have to stare at the other pair of smiling faces that would’ve been on the front cover.” Robin rolled her eyes at his antics, but still offered him a sympathetic smile. Gaius unwrapped himself from her and got to his feet, rolling the lollipop around in his mouth as he watched the two celebrate.

“Man, if people like us together this much maybe we should actually become a couple, nya ha ha! Wouldn’t that be _crazy_ Sumia?” Sumia’s bombastic giggling came to a screeching halt at Henry’s comment. She turned her big brown eyes to his classic grin, face slowly becoming a worrying shade of crimson.

“Ha…! R-right! Crazy! That’d be absolutely _insane_ , ha ha! Me? And you? Together? Gosh, I can’t even _imagine_ it! …Well, I may have… Er, just now! It’s not like I think about it all the time or anything! Because that’s just… That’d be… Er…” Sumia’s sputtering trailed off into an awkward silence as she suddenly became entranced with the floor. The pale haired boy who stood next to her seemed unfazed by this, grinning as he always does, and patted her shoulder with a chuckle. It was at this point that Chrom – who had been stood beside the two, seemingly completely unbothered by losing – cleared his throat.

“So, Robin, can I take the issue now…?” Robin tore her gaze away from the flustered spectacle, spurred into action at his request.

“Oh! Of course! Yeah, give me a second.” She got to her feet and shoved Gaius out of the way with her hip, rummaging through one of her desk drawers for the articles she’d written up. The boy shot her an indignant pout but remained quiet, slowly trailing his gaze to his blue haired friend.

Robin finally managed to find the two pages she’d written out for Henry and Sumia, spilling them next to the rest of the issue she’d gathered. Apart from the polling results it was a fairly regular article: it included Tharja’s horoscopes, Old Hubba’s column, Sumia’s poems, and the article Stahl wrote on the Equestrian Club. While Robin hadn’t managed to find the olive haired sleepyhead himself, she did find that he’d left his article on her desk by the time she came in Thursday lunchtime. She’d also asked Lissa to tell him about the poll counting, but for whatever reason he hadn’t shown up. Admittedly it would’ve been easier to just text him but, as she’d been doing all week, she chickened out. The longer she left apologising to him the harder it got – but she had yet to pluck up the courage.

“These comments I found were pretty nice. You need some for the spread, right?” Jay appeared at Robin’s side, holding three polling slips in front of her face. She blinked and gratefully took the pieces of paper from his hands, scanning over what the voters had written under the ticked box for Henry and Sumia.

_‘An unlikely pair, but too adorable!’_

_‘Always have smiles on their faces. Their happiness is truly heartwarming.’_

_‘I can totally see Henry in Sumia’s poems!’_

Robin cracked a small smile at their classmates’ remarks, giving a small approving nod to Jay as she reached for the glue.

“Okay then, here you go Chrom! Next week’s issue of Ylisse Now.” Hastily sticking down the paper in the free space she left, Robin gathered up the pages in order. She spent a few moments to quickly scan over each segment to check for any last minute imperfections, but ultimately ended up glancing back to the Old Hubba write-in.

_‘Dear Old Hubba,_

_What do you do if you want something unattainable?_

_\- Pegasus’_

Robin chewed the inside of her cheek, her mouth instinctively pulling into a taut line. There was only one person she knew that would ask such a straight forward yet extremely ambiguous question.

_‘Hey, Pegasus!_

_Thanks for writing in, I hope my absence in last week’s issue didn’t cause you any trouble! I’ve gotta say, your problem is a lot trickier than other ones I’ve received. But I honestly only have one piece of advice for you: move on. It doesn’t do you any good to chase after an impossible goal – it’ll only hurt you in the end. It can be a very difficult thing to let go, but ultimately you’ll just have to hold your head high and carry on. Maybe one day you’ll find something better.’_

With a warm smile, she passed the issue over the desk to Chrom, who nodded in return. Tucking it under his arm, he began a wide stride to the door and turned to wave at them all.

“Alright guys, see you Monday! Have a nice weekend!” The group chorused their own goodbyes to the Head Boy, chatting amongst themselves as they went to obtain their bags and coats. Robin watched his retreating figure until he completely vanished from sight around the corner. Sighing, she turned to see a grinning Jay holding her schoolbag out for her.

“Careful, if you drool any more this floor will become a slipping hazard.” Robin couldn’t help but quirk a small smile at his quip, taking the bag from his hand and throwing it over her shoulder.

“Funny coming from the guy who once peed all over the floor in that one convenience store.”

“Hey, I was seven!” Robin giggled, skirting around the side of her desk. Everyone seemed about ready to leave when they all had their attention drawn by the sound of someone clearing their throat. The origin of the sound was stood in the doorway; a tall, dark haired boy who couldn’t stand to look anywhere except his shoes. Lissa immediately perked, taking a few enthusiastic steps towards him.

“Lon’qu!” The Feroxi boy shot a menacing glance as she tried to get closer.

“Back, woman.” Lissa stopped in her spot, immediately puffing her cheeks out in a childish pout. Lon’qu did not look very comfortable being somewhere with a high population of girls. Raising an eyebrow, Robin glanced to the equally confused club members stood around her.

“Uh, hey, Lon’qu… What are you doing here?” She tentatively began, earning a quick glance from the boy before being swapped out by the wall behind her. A hesitant silence ensued as he tried to formulate words, an evidently difficult feat shown by his growing grimace. Sighing, Lon’qu shuffled awkwardly into the room and reached into his back pocket.

“I was… Wondering whether you had a story for next week.” He ran his spare hand through his dark hair, sparing Robin another fleeting look. She put a thoughtful finger to her chin. There wasn’t anything in particular planned for next week. Well, not that she was aware of. If Stahl had an idea then she sure didn’t know about it. Deciding to see where the boy was going with this, Robin shrugged.

“Not at the moment, no.” Lon’qu pursed his lips at the reply, begrudgingly pulling out whatever was in his pocket and holding it out to Robin. He refused to make eye contact with anyone. Looking down to his hand, she saw a purple flyer reading _‘Skateboard Showdown!!! This Saturday, noon, at the local skate park! Witness the two youngest talents from the nearby cities clash in an ultimate battle of skill and awesomeness!’_ Robin looked back up to Lon’qu whose face now boasted a very deep red. Lissa piped up before she could say anything.

“So _that’s_ what you were doing this weekend!” Lon’qu’s eye twitched at her high pitched coo.

“Be quiet, woman. I only came here to tell you because…” He anxiously fidgeted about with his hair, scowl deepening as he became more flustered. “I thought it’d be helpful. Or whatever,” Lon’qu huffed. “Come or don’t, I couldn’t care less.” Robin glanced around the faces of her fellow spectators, all looking equal parts confused and excited. She turned to Lon’qu and gave him a wide grin.

“Who are you against?” He shrugged.

“Just some kid from another school. Doesn’t matter. I’ll beat him.” The tense atmosphere in the room was broken by everyone’s modest laughter at his confidence. Lon’qu visibly relaxed at the reaction, tucking the flyer back in his pocket.

“Looks like we’ll all be there. Right?” Robin was met with enthusiastic agreement from the group. Gaius grinned and pulled out his lollipop.

“Excited to see your sweet skills, Mister Super Skateboarder.” Lissa was especially excited at the prospect, swaying back and forth on her boots in an attempt to stop herself from displaying any kind of physical affection. Even Tharja seemed to assent to the offer.

“I’ll come. Provided no meathead skater boys come anywhere near me.” She hissed through her glossed lips. Lon’qu looked slightly surprised at the amount of support he was receiving, finally taking the opportunity to back up away towards the door.

“Okay. Bye then.” With a brief nod to Robin, Lon’qu walked out of the room and down the hallway. Lissa quickly grabbed her bag and bounded after him, shouting her goodbyes over her shoulder.

“See you guys tomorrow!” The flash of blonde pigtails disappeared behind the doorframe, followed by the sound of distant Lon’qu-esque grumbling. Those left began to follow suit, resuming their departure that had previously been interrupted by the skater’s appearance. Olivia pulled up her pastel pink backpack and gave Robin a shy wave on her way to the door.

“Um, I’ll bring my c-camera, yeah…?” Robin nodded to her.

“Yep, looks like it’s gonna be a busy Saturday.” The Feroxi nodded, amaranth braids bouncing as she turned around to the door, following behind Henry and Sumia. Jay nudged Robin’s side as the room quickly emptied.

“We better be getting home. One of these days they actually will close the gates on us.” She rolled her eyes as he began a backward march to the door, grinning at her.

“You’re way too paranoid about that.” Jay shrugged and pushed up the rim of his glasses, beginning to make his way down the hallway. Following him out the door, Robin paused. She wrapped a coil of her hair around a finger, biting her lip as she felt for her phone in her pocket. She was going to have to tell Stahl about this, right? This event was primarily Newspaper Club business after all, even if Jay and Gaius were showing up. She pulled out the device and unlocked it, locating Stahl’s contact. It wouldn’t be hard to just text him the details. That said, he didn’t show up today even after she asked Lissa to tell him. She could also call him to make sure he definitely got the information and confirm whether he would show up simultaneously. Robin’s pale thumb ghosted over the call button, biting harder on her bottom lip as she willed herself to press it. If he did come tomorrow it would give her the perfect opportunity to apologise, then they could carry on writing about the skating competition without any awkwardness. They could go back to normal.

“C’mon stubby, I’ll burn Mr. Nibbles if you don’t hurry up!” Robin’s head jerked as she heard the name of her stuffed rabbit mentioned.

“Don’t you dare touch him!” She glanced to the smiling contact picture of Stahl on her phone again. Inwardly cursing herself, she pressed the lock button, fading the phone screen into black. Robin tucked it back in her pocket as she ran down the hallway after her brother. “And I’m only a couple of inches shorter than you!” Jay’s laugh resounded from the wooden stairwell as she finally reached the top step. She pulled up the strap of her bag as she began descending the stairs.

Gods, she really did like running away from her problems.

* * *

“Do you think this shirt makes me look cool?” Jay pulled on the grey flannel he’d worn over his Megatron t-shirt, eyes narrowed as he contemplated this new look. Robin spared a glance to her hopeless older brother.

“It would. If it wasn’t complemented by Transformers apparel.” She quirked a Finch grin as Jay raised his head indignantly, crossing his arms over the decepticon. He huffed.

“I’ll have you know that Megatron is a pop culture icon and – as such – must be _super_ cool.”

“Tell that to Michael Bay.”

“We don’t talk about that.” Robin couldn’t help but giggle at his hurried interjection. This was returned with an arm thrown around her shoulders and a hand messing up her hair.

“H-hey, no, Jay, c’mon, we’re almost there!” She squeaked as he let go of her, grinning with his glasses slightly askew.

“That’s what you get for mentioning that mess of an adaptation.” He attempted to pat down some of the more unruly pieces of hair that stuck out from his little sister’s head. Robin just blew him a raspberry as she mostly righted her uneven parting. The sound of not too distant cheering and wheels on tarmac pulled the two’s attention – a definite sign that they were nearing the skate park. Despite the place’s usual low population, Robin could see a large cluster of teenagers wearing messy clothes and ripped, baggy jeans stood around the bowl that made up the majority of the park’s area. The smell of warm concrete combined with an overabundance of Axe body spray hit Robin’s nose as soon as they reached the outside of the crowd.

“Hey, guys! Over here!” The cheery chirp of Lissa’s voice managed to cut through the haze of teenage chattering, pulling the siblings’ attention to the bench where the majority of their friends sat. The blonde wore the ‘skater gear’ she’d worn to school the day she and Maribelle argued, surprisingly fitting in quite well with the crowd surrounding the park. Robin spotted Henry and Sumia standing closer to the bowl next to some other spectators, laughing and cheering with the rest of them. Tharja stood behind the bench Lissa sat on, glaring daggers at anyone who came too close to her, and Gaius nonchalantly glanced about the area as he rolled around a couple of gumballs in his palm. Spotting his ginger haired friend, Jay broke off from Robin and greeted him with a wide wave, which he returned with a sly grin and some comment she couldn’t hear from her position.

“Th-there’s a lot of p-people here.” The familiar quiet peep of a soft voice sounded from behind Robin. She turned to meet the frantic violet eyes of Olivia, which seemed to calm a little at the sight of her friend.

“I know? I thought nobody cared about skateboarding since the 90’s,” Olivia’s pink lips pulled into a small smile. Beginning to make her way to the bench, Robin tugged on the girl’s wrist. “Don’t worry, we’re all here. Just relax, take some pictures, and have fun.” The Feroxi overcame her hesitation as she spotted the gaggle of familiar faces. She allowed herself to be pulled along and moved her other hand to her camera, analysing the area for a good spot to take pictures. Robin released her when they reached the bench, taking a seat next to a beaming Lissa.

“I-I’ll go take some pictures n-now. Um, if you need me, call me…?” Olivia glanced off anxiously into the crowd but then turned back to Robin, her resolve steeled with a small smile. Robin nodded and waved her off.

“Alright Liv. Good luck,” The Feroxi’s smile grew before she turned around and made her way into the crowd. Robin turned her attention back to the blonde sat next to her. “Any sign of Lon’qu yet?” Lissa nodded, pointing towards the now mostly clear view of the skaters doing various tricks in the bowl.

“Yup! He said he’d be coming back in a bit. This is all so awesome, isn’t it?!” The girl’s green eyes lit up as one of the skaters pulled off an impressive trick, earning a loud and ecstatic commendation from the crowd. Robin raised her eyebrows, trying to resist the urge to cover her ears at the almost deafening cheers. Despite the event’s niche appeal, the attendees exuded overwhelming passion and zeal – something that earned a somewhat giddy smile from Robin. Pulling out her notepad from her pocket, she clicked her pen and began to describe the occasion and its atmosphere.

“Gotta say, Lissa, you’re totally right. It _is_ pretty awesome.” Lissa’s grin grew at her agreement, kicking her converse as she turned to watch the show. Surveying the crowd, Robin tapped the back of her pen on her chin. There was something about the onlookers that seemed familiar. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She shrugged it off and turned back to her notes, resuming her scribbling.

“Hmph. So you showed up.” After writing a few more bullet points, Robin looked up to the gruff voice of Lon’qu, stood a few feet away with his board under his arm. His eyes swept over their group to find that everyone was in attendance.

“Heya, Lon’qu! Are you up yet?” Lissa got to her feet, taking a small step towards the boy. His dark eyes flicked to the inquisitive blonde, managing to hold her gaze for a few seconds before glancing to his board instead.

“No. Few more minutes.” The girl glanced behind him to the line of skaters sat on the opposite side of the bowl, fiddling slightly with the hem of her shirt. Robin followed her gaze and squinted at the boys. There was something about them…

“Which one’s the guy you’re up against?” Lissa got to her tiptoes to get a better look at the figures, her question causing Lon’qu to turn around and scan the crowd. The moment he began pointing, one of the figures stood up and began skating over to them.

“That one.” The boy came bounding up towards the group, board tucked under his arm much like Lon’qu, wearing a big grin. His mess of short blonde hair was unmistakable, coupled with the light green eyes that twinkled with his unbridled excitement. Robin’s stomach dropped to her feet.

“Greetings, Ylisseans! I see that you are supporters of my arch foe! But I’m afraid that you will be disappointed with the outcome of today’s battle, for I – Owain, scion of the true skateboarding legends – have never once been outdone by a mere challenger!” Owain laughed loudly and obnoxiously as Lon’qu looked on, completely unimpressed with the boy’s display. Lissa was enthralled. Robin, on the other hand, wished that she’d melt into the ground. “Me and my trusty board, Missiletainn, shall rend the heavens themselves in twain when I execute my daring smorgasbord of special moves! Yes – my board hand twitches with excitement at all the amazing feats I will accomplish on this fine day!”

“You talk too much.” Lon’qu grumbled, a twitch appearing in one of his eyes as the boy went on. The blonde stopped, frowning at the Feroxi.

“See here, Lon’qu of the Icy North, just because this is your home ground do not be so foolish as to think that you have the advanta-“ Owain went to gesture to Lissa and Robin behind Lon’qu and paused, doing a double take as his eyes ran over her own pale face. His mouth hung open mid-speech, brows contorting in confusion as he stared at the guilty smile Robin now wore.

“Uh, hi, Owain. Long time no see?” She limply raised a hand in a small wave. Owain could only stare at her in complete shock as his mouth morphed into a scowl.

“Robin? Robin Redface?” She cringed at the nickname, painfully aware that all the people she knew were staring at her. Out of her peripherals she could even spot a confused Gaius and Tharja, accompanied by an increasingly worried Jay. Owain’s scowl turned into a knowing smirk as he surveyed her friends, putting one hand on his hip. “So this is where you ran off to, eh?” Robin laughed hollowly, looking to her lap but unable to escape the sudden unwanted attention that had been forced on her.

“R-robin? Who’s that…?” Olivia, who had just returned from photographing the scene, voiced the question everybody had been thinking. The pink haired girl stood beside the bench, gripping her camera with both hands and looking between her friend and Owain. Darting one nervous golden eye towards the girl, Robin managed a shaky nod. Before she could continue another familiar voice joined the fray from behind Owain.

“Hey, Owain, have you told these losers about how you’re going to beat their asses ye-… _Robin?”_ The harsh and crude tones of who could only be Brady sounded in front of Robin. She looked up to see the boy with the same shocked expression Owain previously wore, one eyebrow raised on the side of his face with the scar. He trailed his menacing maroon eyes down to the notebook in her hand, then glanced to the camera Olivia wore around her neck. The boy’s face soured at the sight. “Back to running the newspaper, huh?” Brady turned his attention back to Robin, his comment attracting a small stunned gasp from Owain. Robin could only bow her head as hot shame congealed in her face. “Surprised they even let you in. School must be run by a buncha hacks if they didn’t even bother to look up what you did.” A long forgotten knot of guilt began to gnaw away at Robin’s chest, balling her hands into fists in an attempt to ignore the sensation. Everyone was staring at her. They couldn’t know. Nobody could. Not after everything got so much better after she came here. She couldn’t go back to that world, no matter what.

“Hey, back off! Who said you could come over here to terrorise my sister?” Robin looked up to the sight of grey flannel and the sound of her brother’s voice contorted in a rare flash of ferocity. All attention that had been focused on her now switched to Jay, standing between Robin and the two boys from Plegia, who now frowned at the new contender.

“Aight, c’mon Finch, you know as well as us that your sister’s far from innocent.” Brady crossed his arms as Owain nodded in agreement.

“So? What does it matter? That’s in the past. It’s none of your problem now.” Jay fired back a retort, an uncharacteristic fire reflected in his glass lenses.

“Y-yeah! L-leave Robin alone…!” Robin whipped her head around in surprise at Olivia’s objection, her voice high pitched but fierce nonetheless. The Feroxi’s hands shook as she held onto her camera, managing to maintain eye contact with the two boys and hold her head high. Robin felt a surge of pride and awe at the sight.

“You chumps better get going now. You see, we’re not a big fan of people who attack our friends.” The purr of Gaius’ voice was laced with steel as he leaned on the bench behind her, mounting a levelled glare as the two glanced at eachother. A moment of tense silence passed before Lon’qu interjected.

“Talk doesn’t matter. We’re here to skate.” He dropped his board on the ground and placed an army booted foot on it. Owain puffed his chest out at the challenge, completely forgetting the matter at hand.

“Fine! But do not underestimate me, villains – for I, Owain, shall defeat your champion and show all of you the truth of our accusatio-“

“Just go skateboard, Owain.”

“R-right.” Brady began the walk back over to their spot on the opposite side of the park as Owain dropped his board in the same manner as Lon’qu, a cocky smirk smothering his face. Lon’qu nodded, pushing off from his board.

“Let’s go.” As he reached the edge of the bowl he jumped, bringing the board with him, then landed perfectly on the curved concrete. This earned a wave of excitement from the crowd, cheering as they saw the main event was finally starting. Grumbling, Owain followed suit and rode after the Feroxi. This left the rest of them in a disoriented silence as the world around them erupted into applause. Lissa was the first one up.

“I’m gonna go get a better view. See you guys in a bit!” She glanced to Robin before she left and gave her a nod and a sympathetic smile, then skipped into the crowd. Tharja soon followed suit, but instead went off to find a quiet spot ‘away from all the idiots’.

“If any of those pests come back, Robin, just tell me. I’ll curse them up to their eyeballs.” Gaius wandered around to the front of the bench and gave her a concerned look, which Robin returned with a reassuring nod. Wordlessly, he disappeared into the throes of people. Olivia was the last. She anxiously looked to the bowl, the view of which had now been completely obscured by the mess of bodies. She bit her lip.

“It’s okay, Olivia. You better get in there and take some pictures. We can’t run the article without some shots of the main event.” Robin gave the girl a tired smile which she returned with a furrowed brow. She opened her mouth to argue, but then looked down to her camera. Breathing a wispy sigh, Olivia backed up towards the skaters.

“A-alright…” She turned her violet eyes on Jay, who retained his position stood in front of Robin. His previously angry expression returned to its demure state.

“I’ll look after her. Get some cool action shots of Lon’qu beating that larp punk into next Tuesday.” A soft giggle escaped Olivia’s lips as she gave one last look at Robin, who managed to quirk a tired smile at her brother’s quip. Then she dived into the fray. Robin leaned back on the bench, sighing as she rubbed her face.

“That was dramatic.” Jay chuckled as he sat next to her, nudging her with his shoulder.

“You’re quite the celebrity, sis,” She flopped her hands in her lap and rolled her eyes at him. Grinning, he threw a pale arm around her shoulders. “Seriously. Don’t worry about them. It was only Owain and Brady, after all. It’s not like it was one of those other two.” Robin sank more into his arm at their mention, wincing, but grateful for the comfort. She turned her gaze to her lap and began fiddling with the notebook’s binding.

“How can’t I? They just…” She sighed and shut her eyes tight. “They just showed up. Without any warning at all. I don’t want everything to go to crap again, Jay. You know how they all feel about me.” Robin had even begun to think since the Stahl ordeal that maybe she didn’t even deserve to have friends in the first place. It seemed no matter where she went she ended messing up and falling to her own selfishness and naivety – regardless of how everyone else felt about her. The difference now being that it was entirely her fault. Gods, she missed Stahl; that realisation made her feel far worse than anything Owain or Brady could say. He’d know how to deal with this if he were here.

“So? They don’t matter anymore. We all care about you. Heck, Olivia and Gaius didn’t even know what was going on and they defended you,” Robin opened her eyes to her brother’s warm smile. “Even if everyone knew, nothing would change.” Despite herself, Robin returned the smile. As doofy as he was, Jay knew how to make her feel better. Although she still couldn’t shake the doubt that had taken root.

“I hope you’re right about that.” Jay sighed overdramatically at her pessimism, removing his arm from her shoulder and holding a hand on her head threateningly.

“If you keep that up I’m going to have to mess up your hair again, young lady,” Robin squeaked and squirmed from his grasp, prompting a chuckle. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Besides, even if by some miracle everyone did somehow end up hating you, you’d always have me.” Jay got to his feet and turned to her, same goofy grin she’d seen a million times spilling over his features. And, for once, Robin returned it. He held out his hand to her.

“You really are the best brother ever, you know that?” She took it and pulled herself up. Jay’s smile evolved into the classic Finch grin.

“Of course I know. That’s why I have you, after all,” Robin scoffed at his thinly veiled compliment, shoving his arm lightly as she tried to stop herself from smiling, failing miserably. Jay motioned towards the constantly animated crowd which hadn’t died down during the course of Lon’qu and Owain’s showdown. “You’ve still got notes to write. We can’t let that boy’s thrashing go unrecorded.” With that, Jay turned and began clearing a path through the crowd. Robin could at least admit that the turnout could’ve been a lot worse – she didn’t happen to see either of her main agitators. Finished with feeling sorry for herself, Robin braced herself and began shoving through the teenagers after her brother.

When she got to the edge of the bowl next to Jay, she looked down to see Lon’qu riding rings around the blonde boy. The Feroxi effortlessly executed trick after trick, only getting more impressive as he went on. Owain, meanwhile, was beginning to get more frustrated with the more he was getting shown up. In a seemingly last ditch effort, the blonde skated over to the highest ramp. He took a deep breath and shouted to the masses, cupping his mouth with his hands.

“Prepare yourselves, mortals! For Owain Dark’s Ultimate Move: _Radiaaaant Board!”_ Even Lon’qu paused at his announcement, turning his skateboard to face Owain as the boy took a few steps back down. Then, with a self-assured grin, he jumped on the board and pushed off the ramp at a tremendous speed. For a few short seconds, the entire crowd held its breath: Owain sailed through the air effortlessly, twisting his body around the board until at one point the only piece of contact he had with it was with his left hand. However, the force of the momentum seemed to take him off guard, not leaving him with enough time to get a better purchase before hitting the ground. Everyone let out a vicarious hiss of pain as the blonde wiped out on the concrete.

“I’m okay…” The cracked voice of the previously confident boy sounded from the mess sprawled out in the middle of the bowl. Lon’qu stood on the side, face in his hand, as Owain slowly and painfully made his way to his feet. Somewhere in the distance Robin heard the familiar click of a camera. Robin just shook her head, unable to bring herself to write down an account of what she just witnessed.

“Hey loser, you’re really going to let some Feroxi punk beat you?” She froze at the voice that called from the other side of the spectators. Owain visibly sighed and fought back a grin, looking up to the source. Robin slowly followed his gaze, but she didn’t have to see him to know who it was.

“Little late to the party, Inigo.” There he stood, his signature bright smile on full display for everyone to see. His well-groomed grey hair seemed unperturbed by the warmth and close proximity of the skate park, only accentuating the perfect princely aesthetic he tried so hard to maintain. Robin couldn’t tear her eyes away from him, suddenly finding breathing an exceedingly difficult feat.

“I was just in time to see you fall on your ass so I’d hardly count that as ‘late’.”

“Har-har, very funny. Now, if you don’t mind me, I have a skate-off to win! Owain, the true hero of this realm, cannot afford to look badly in any newspaper issue!” With that, he kicked up his board and planted his feet on it again, trying his best to hide his wince. Inigo raised an eyebrow.

“What are you talking about? Our newspaper isn’t covering…”

Everything stopped as he caught sight of Robin.

The smile he strived to preserve slowly dissolved into a surprised ‘O’, warm sienna eyes forming into wide dinner plates. Her heart threatened to spill out her mouth as she saw his lips form a single word: _Robin._ A wave of madness overcame her at the sight; fingers going numb save for the prickling sensation of paraesthesia, ribcage near to splitting open with the sledgehammer that pounded in her chest, lungs burning as her breath came in and out in short, shallow bursts.

A single thought ran through her head: I need to get away from here. _Now._

Abandoning all sense or reason, Robin dropped her notebook and pen where she stood, weakened legs carrying her through the waves of people whose faces she couldn’t register. Everything was a blur of colour. Any sound was blocked out by the rushing and pounding and churning of the blood in her ears. Gods, it was bad enough seeing Owain and Brady, did _he_ really have to show up too? Tears pricked at the edges of her eyes as she finally freed herself from the throes of the crowd. Blinded by panic and high on adrenaline, Robin dashed off in a random direction as she tried to get as far away from the skate park as possible.

Robin was running away from her problems again. She had ran away from this one for a while, but she knew that there was nothing she could do about it. The fear alone was paralysing. Stumbling over her own feet, she came to a stop in a side alley, alone. Robin leaned her back against the red brick wall that ran along one half of the alleyway, slowly sliding down and planting her face in her knees. She couldn’t deal with this anymore. She really hadn’t changed a bit. Rubbing her face now wet with tears, Robin found herself wracked with sobs. She tried to muffle them with a hand but it didn’t work. She shut her eyes tight as she desperately attempted to think of a way to get herself out of this mess.

Jay would understand, but she didn’t want to pile even more of her troubles on him than she needed to. He’d had enough of that for the past few years. The poor guy really didn’t deserve it. Olivia maybe? The girl was quiet but they both shared a silent kinship, and she’d comforted her before. That said, Robin didn’t think she’d be able to face her in tears. The Feroxi was supposed to be the more emotional of the two and she didn’t want to upset her with her own troubles. That left only one person.

Choking back a sob and wiping some tears away with the palm of her hand, Robin reached into her pocket. She pulled out her phone and brought up the contact she’d been avoiding for the past week. In a mad moment of hysteria that she hoped she wouldn’t regret later, Robin pressed the call button and held the phone to her ear. Her heart shuddered more in her chest with each dial tone that sounded. One ring. Two. Three. Someone picked up.

“Hello?” Robin sniffed, part of her crumpling at the sound of Stahl’s voice, even if it was slightly compressed by the phone line. She took a deep shaky breath as she tried to voice her thoughts.

“H-hey, Stahl, I-I, u,-“

“Robin? Is that you? You sound upset, is everything alright?” The concerned tone in his voice was unmistakable. The mere sound of it was enough to make her want to cry all over again.

“I’m… N-no, everything’s not v-very good at the moment,” She rubbed her face, chastising herself for getting off topic. First she needed to apologise, she could sort out the rest later. “That d-doesn’t matter, I need to tell you I’m so-“

“Where are you right now?” Robin blinked at his interruption, taken aback by the firmness of his voice. She looked around her for any familiar landmarks. It only helped her realise she had no idea where she was.

“I’m not sure…? I j-just ran out of the skate park and ended up in this alley, I wasn’t really paying any a-attention to where I was running…” A few seconds of silence passed, Robin now tuning into the sound of cars passing on the nearby road.

“Is it the one across from the playground?” Robin looked out across the street, eyes stinging from the fresh tears and the dust being kicked up from the road. Sure enough, on the grassy bank opposite her spot, stood a fenced off children’s playground painted in gaudy primary colours.

“Y-yeah.”

“Hold tight Robin, I’ll be there in a second.” The line went dead. Robin couldn’t help but feel astounded at the reaction. She’d figured that after the past few days Stahl wouldn’t want anything to do with her, let alone come running after her without even letting her apologise to him. Sniffing, Robin slid her phone back in her pocket and tried to make herself look presentable. It didn’t work. She leaned the back of her head against the brick, closing her eyes as she exhaled a breath she didn’t realise she’d been holding. Thinking about it, didn’t Stahl live a few streets down from the skate park? At this thought, the sound of rushed footsteps on concrete entered her earshot, followed by heavy panting. She opened her eyes to the surprisingly welcome sight of Stahl collapsed against the opposite wall.

“Hey stranger.” Robin’s voice caught in her throat as she tried to greet him, still sore from her crying. She couldn’t help but let the sides of her lips quirk up into a smile as he cast one of his eyes to her weary figure. Stahl took a deep breath and stood up straight, running a hand through his usual messy hair as he let out a heavy sigh of relief at the sight of her.

“Been a while.” The familiar lopsided grin that Robin hadn’t realised she’d missed spread across the boy’s face, the freckles on his nose crinkling. Sliding down the wall on the opposite side of the alley, Stahl sat across from her, studying her face with a soft yet piercing gaze. She turned to study the cracks in the street, her misplaced guilt returning.

“Stahl, look, I… I need to apologise for what happened,” She ran her tongue over her chapped lips, beginning to fiddle with the edge of her shirt’s cuff. Stahl stayed quiet. “It… You were r-right. Completely and utterly right,” A sob breached her throat against her volition, threatening more tears. “I was stupid. And s-selfish, so, so selfish, I just didn’t even think about it. Gods, and the way I j-just ignored you! ‘Stahl doesn’t have any bad feelings’ – how naïve is that?” A strained laugh managed to escape her lips, opening the dam that had only been repaired a few moments prior. Tears began to freely fall down her cheeks again. “I’m s-sorry, Stahl! _S-so_ sorry. E-everywhere I g-go I just keep… messing everything up! A-at first I thought m-maybe I was just unlucky, y’know? B-but then I started realising it w-was me. _I’m_ the reason things k-keep going wrong. Naga’s sake – I’m a bloody _mess!_ I-I’ve started really trying, th-though the more I d-do the more I s-start thinking that maybe it’s too late. M-maybe even if I d-do manage to g-get better, it won’t matter. I’m a walking disaster who k-keeps making rash, naïve, selfish decisions and getting other people hurt because I’m too b-busy thinking about myself to just t-take a _moment_ to-“ Robin was interrupted by Stahl’s sudden movement, placing his hands firmly on her shaking shoulders.

“Robin. Look at me,” Robin hiccupped, slowly looking up at his face. Her vision blurred with tears but she was still able to make out the warm smile he wore. “You’re really brave to admit your faults like that. And you were even braver to confront Cordelia and genuinely apologise for what you did,” Robin frowned, causing more drops to spill out from her tear ducts. “Panne told me after school yesterday.” She shrugged, glancing away from him.

“I probably wouldn’t h-have done it unless she took me there.”

“The mere fact that you went in to see her on your own is enough proof that you wanted to make things right,” Robin stayed quiet, fighting back a sniffle. Stahl squeezed her shoulder, successfully pulling her attention back to him. The same amiable smile hung on his face. “It doesn’t matter if you’ve messed up in the past, what _does_ matter is that you’re doing better now. You don’t deserve to beat yourself up over things you did ages ago,” Stahl released his grip from her shoulders, leaning back on his knees and sheepishly weaving his fingers through his olive locks. He offered her a humble grin. “Well, I don’t think so, anyway.” Robin could only stare and wipe the remaining tears from her eyes at the boy. She hadn’t spoken to him since Monday – he didn’t even know what she’d just been through – yet somehow he’d managed to make her feel even better than she did before she went to the skate park. A surge of varying emotions bubbled up in her chest. Instead of bursting into tears again, Robin pushed herself onto her knees and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, burying her face in his t-shirt.

“Gods, I missed you.” Almost immediately she felt his own arms envelop her, providing a welcoming feeling of warmth. His voice rumbled in his chest, but his words barely rose above a whisper.

“I missed you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And y'all probably thought that bit in the first chapter about the kids was just a bunch of throwaway lines.  
> I feel no remorse for the amount of puns I had to force on Owain in this chapter. You guys had to see this coming. But hey, at least this closes up the whole Robin/Stahl/Cordelia troubles pretty neatly (FOR NOW) so we can move onto new angst! Yaaay! Hope you guys enjoyed your sneak peek of the True Plot. It's not gonna come back for like another 20 bajillion chapters. Also, it kind of goes without saying, but all the kids in this story have their promotional hair colours.  
> Aight, for today's title, a 'beat' usually refers to a place that gets regular coverage. In this case, the skate park.


	12. Sidebarred

A layer of darkness bathed Robin’s room in still silence, save for the regular ticking of the clock hung above her desk. Rolling onto her back, the girl rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stared at the glow-in-the-dark stars she’d stuck to her ceiling many years ago. She pulled some hair out of her face and frowned. It was early Monday morning, which meant school was a couple of hours away. She’d slept like a baby the past weekend so it was strange she’d already woken up. In fact, the only time she’d ever woken up this early on a school day was…

Robin shot up as she heard a rattling come from her bedroom window. The curtains were drawn shut and unperturbed by any breeze, the light purple material partially illuminated by the scant sunlight that had begun to creep in. Feeling her heart hammer in her chest, Robin got to her feet, pulling on the edges of the lilac nightgown she wore. She clutched the edges of the curtains. It had to be Gaius. No one else would bother her this early. He was probably stood in the garden throwing rocks at her window or something, maybe in an attempt to stop from waking up Jay. She smiled slightly to herself. That boy could be really considerate when he wanted to. Blinking away the last dregs of sleep, she opened the curtains.

“Gaius what the _hell?!_ ” Instead of seeing him in the garden, like she’d expected, Robin was greeted to the sight of their ginger haired candy tycoon sat on her outside windowsill, chewing on some bubblegum. Grinning, he pressed his face against the glass.

“Good morning to you too, Squeak.” Despite his voice being muffled by the barrier between them, Robin could still recognise the omnipresent mischievous tone that laced Gaius’ words. Robin pinched the bridge of her nose, already exasperated.

“Why can’t you use a door, like a normal person?” Gaius shrugged.

“Anything’s a door if you apply it in the right way. Anyway, you better let me in before the neighbours see me. I’m sure they’d love to spread some scandalous rumours about you having a roguishly handsome visitor.” He leaned against one half of the window, an eyebrow cocked as his smirk revealed the toothy canines hidden behind his lips. Robin held her ground for a few moments, glaring at him in a futile attempt to get him to stop this silliness, then sighed. Undoing the latch on her window, she pushed it open wide enough for him to squirm through.

“Alright, come in. Just don’t touch anything.” Deftly wiggling into her room, Gaius gracefully rolled onto the floor.

“Touch everything, you say?”

“Wait, no, Gaius sto-“ In her half asleep state Robin lacked the force necessary to keep Gaius in one spot. Before she could do anything to stop him, he slid past her and splayed across her bed. He rolled onto his back, placed his hands behind his head, and grinned at her.

“Comfy digs you got here, Squeak. I could just make myself right at home.” He made an over exaggerated yawn, stretching out all his limbs until he completely covered the surface of Robin’s small double bed. She was just thankful he hadn’t pointed out the smiling pink rabbit faces that adorned her duvet. Sighing, Robin took a seat on the floor, resting her head against the wall next to the bed.

“You’re welcome to, I guess.” She grumbled, still not over the fact he’d woken her up. Again. Robin couldn’t stay mad at him though; she knew he didn’t mean any harm by it. A few moments were spent in silence, an unusual occurrence around the fast-talking ginger haired boy. Robin closed her eyes, feeling the cold plaster of the wall against her scalp through her tumbling silver locks. She felt herself begin to nod off to sleep again before she was interrupted by the shuffling of fabric.

“I heard you made up with your knight.” Robin opened one of her golden eyes to the sound of Gaius’ purr. He was leaning on the side of his mattress with his arms folded under his chin, eyebrows raised and leafy green irises shining in the meagre light. Robin ran a hand through her pale hair, offering him her own coy smile.

“You heard right.” After the emotional display she’d made to Stahl on Saturday he managed to guide her home – a highly appreciated sentiment as she had no idea where she was. Along the way they’d just talked like normal, exchanging their usual jokes and terrible puns, as if nothing had ever changed. She’d also filled him in on what they were doing at the skate park, but she didn’t say (and he didn’t ask) why she’d left it in such a mess. Along the way they’d found Jay who’d been searching for her since she ran off, ecstatic with relief to find that she’d ended up okay. After that, they headed home, and didn’t exchange a word about Owain, Brady, Inigo or her old school. It was like the last week had never happened.

“Also are you really calling Stahl that now?” Gaius shrugged, blowing a strand of ginger hair out of his face.

“Makes sense. You’re chasing after a prince, so it stands to reason that you’d have your own gallant knight who constantly has to save you from stuff.” His sly smirk returned, pupils narrowed into feline slits. Robin returned it with a toothy grin, happily joining in on his weird analogy.

“And I take it you’re the lovable rogue sidekick that provides the playful teasing and occasional dose of harsh reality?”

“You know it. But you forgot the bit where I’m a total hottie.” He chuckled and rolled onto his back, leaning his head upside down over the side of the bed. Robin couldn’t help but join in with her own quiet bout of laughter at the boy’s joking around. It was always pleasant being in Gaius’ company, despite the sometimes horrific teasing he subjected her to.

Robin glanced to the open window, the early morning cool breeze disturbing the previously stationary curtains. Pale dawn light ghosted across the room at the movement, flecking dapples of powder blue across Robin’s pastel draped bedroom. The glow-in-the-dark stars that shone moments before now faded in the new light source. She breathed in, inhaling the scent of dewdrops on grass, and smiled lazily to herself. There was something calming and almost magical about this time of day. She glanced over to Gaius’ upside down visage, brows furrowed as he stared at nothing in particular on the other side of the room. Something was stopping him from enjoying the atmosphere.

“Hey, Gaius, is… Everything okay?” He flicked his eyes to her, momentarily brought back to reality, and then closed them.

“She kicked me out again,” Gaius sighed, his face becoming redder as the blood started to rush to his head. Robin kept her eyes on him, regarding the boy curiously as he hesitantly licked his lips. “But… That’s not why I came here,” He moved onto his stomach, still hanging his head off the bed as he fixed Robin a serious expression. Gaius held her gaze for a few moments in silence, then looked away, sighing again. “I want to help Cordelia.” He ran a hand through his ginger hair, going quiet.

While Robin’s confrontation with the girl did help alleviate the strange tension between them, it was clear she was still hesitant to join the group again. She still hadn’t shown up at the bleachers at lunchtime since the dance. Robin hadn’t really paid any mind to it since she’d been busy dealing with the Stahl situation, but now Gaius had brought it up it was kind of concerning. It wouldn’t do Cordelia any good if she sat away in that music room, isolating herself from the rest of her friends.

“You should talk to her then,” The certainty of Robin’s tone took Gaius off guard, eyes opened wide in surprise. She smiled at him, shrugging casually. “You’re the one who cares most about her, right? She wouldn’t be very happy to see me. So you should probably be the one to ask her to join the group again.” He went to open his mouth to object but found he had no argument. Pulling himself into a sitting position, Gaius frowned and scratched his head. A light dusting of pink had found its way to his cheeks.

“See, that’s not possible, Squeak.” His words tumbled out quickly, refusing to make eye contact. Robin rested her chin on the mattress, a devious grin forming at the sight of Gaius’ flustered behaviour.

“Why not? You usually don’t have any trouble talking to her.” Gaius snapped his stern glare to her, face scrunched up indignantly as his complexion got redder. Robin couldn’t help but laugh at his expression. Growling in annoyance at her reaction, he grabbed one of her frilly pillows and threw it at her.

“Don’t laugh at me!” Robin fell back against the wall, protecting her face from any further attacks he may make at her. Swallowing her giggles, she peeked a playful golden eye over her arms at him. Now Gaius was pouting.

“What’s the issue then? It’s just Cordelia.” He frowned at her again, arms crossed, face scarlet. Ducking his eyes under some stray ginger locks, Gaius grumbled an answer.

“Yeah, but I’m Gaius.” Robin raised an eyebrow, smile dissipated. The voice that escaped from Gaius’ mouth was quiet and small, a jarring comparison with his usual smooth persona.

“Does she… Dislike you?” She questioned cautiously, not wanting to upset him by saying something wrong. An empty chuckle rumbled in his throat.

“Something like that. I think she sees me as an annoyance more than anything else,” Gaius turned to her with a small, bittersweet smile. He must’ve seen the curiosity spark in her eyes at his words, so rolled his eyes and continued. “Ever since I’ve started liking her I’ve been kinda getting inbetween her and Chrom, so I’m probably a nuisance to her or something.” The boy rolled his shoulders back and leaned on the bedframe, arms behind his head. Robin grinned at him.

“When did you start liking her?” Gaius scoffed.

“Being a bit nosy there don’tcha think, Squeak?”

“I work for the newspaper. Being nosy is my job.” The comment rewarded her with the classic jovial Gaius laugh.

“Got me there,” He glanced sidelong at her, then at the wall, then to nothing in particular. A couple moments of silence passed before he finally clicked his tongue. “You really wanna know? You’re not gonna write it in the paper or anything, are you?”

“Depends on how juicy it is.” Gaius snorted, resisting the urge to laugh again.

“It’s really not,” Robin’s grin grew, excitement blossoming at the prospect of hearing something so personal. She didn’t know that much about Cordelia after all, much less how someone like Gaius of all people would come to be so fond of her. He scratched the back of his head and turned his gaze away from her, evidently uncomfortable with her eagerness. “We met when we were really young. We both lived around the same area so shared the same walk to school, so that’s how we met,” A tender smile quirked his lips at the memory. “I didn’t have any friends at the time. We never had much money so I always came to school in the same old rags and, well, you know how kids are. If you look different then they’ll stay as far away from you as physically possible,” He sighed and closed his eyes. “Not Cordelia though.”

* * *

_"Gaius, tuck your shirt in, you look like some street urchin who just wandered in off the highway.” Gaius groaned at the familiar commanding tone. He glanced over his shoulder to find Cordelia, long red hair tied up into a ponytail, walking towards him with a stern frown. Popping a hard candy into his mouth, Gaius resumed his walking pace._

_“Whatever you say, mother. Don’t you have some other kid to scold? I’m kind of busy here.” It didn’t take her long to catch up to him due to her longer legs, another reminder that the girl was older than him. She raised an eyebrow and surveyed him as he lazily used one hand to shove his shirt tails into his trousers._

_“Did you pay for that bag of sweets?” He froze, clutching his confectionary to his chest in a sloppy attempt to hide the evidence._

_“Of course I did.”_

_“And how about those ones in your pockets?” Gaius grimaced, silently cursing the girl’s skills of perception. She didn’t give him a moment’s rest._

_“Those may have been gotten by some more… Unsavoury means.”_

_“You could do a far better job of hiding them. Judging by those stains it seems a lot of them have melted.” For a moment he swore he saw a flicker of amusement in her piercing crimson stare. He shot his hands to his pockets to find that, yes, his stash had been reduced to a sticky mess. Groaning, he wiped his fingers on his shirt._

_“Another fantastic start to another fantastic day,” He stuck his cheeks out in a childish pout, looking at his feet as they continued the walk. However his attention was caught by the arguably pleasant sound of Cordelia’s laughter. Turning his attention to her, he couldn’t help but go red at the amount of enjoyment she’d gotten at watching his misfortune. “H-hey! Stop that! It’s not funny!” She wiped away a tear with one of her dainty digits, the side of her mouth still twitching upwards at his reaction._

_“You’ve got honey smeared all over your face,” Gaius blinked, rubbing his cheek with the back of his wrist. Sure enough, he felt the tell-tale texture stuck to his skin. He probably put too much on his porridge again. “Here, let me get it,” Cordelia produced a lacy handkerchief from her enamel pegasus covered schoolbag. Without time to object, she began wiping his face, that same smile upturning her rosebud lips. Gaius looked to the side, embarrassed to be seen like this. She cleaned him in silence until she was finally content with his appearance, taking a step back and returning the handkerchief to its equine themed domain. “There, all done.”_

_“You don’t need to baby me like this, y’know. I don’t see what you get from it.” Gaius raised a hand to his cheek, now uncomfortably warm. Cordelia blinked and cocked her head to the side ponderously, a few strands of her red locks falling out from behind her ears._

_“Don’t be silly. I’m doing this because I want to, not because I gain something from it,” He turned his leafy eyes to her kind expression. “Although I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy our little walks.” The softness of her voice caught Gaius off guard. He ducked his head before he could admit the silly grin that had started to form on his face, rummaging around his bag of sweets. Pulling out a strawberry flavoured lollipop, he held it in front of her face._

_“Here. Take this. I wouldn’t be able to eat them all before they melt, anyway.” He glanced out from behind the ginger bangs that now mostly obscured his eyes. Cordelia looked surprised momentarily, then gratefully took the candy from him._

_“Thank you, Gaius,” Her gratitude stirred something in his chest; a warm feeling that made him happier than he could say. She popped the lollipop in her mouth and narrowed her eyes, critically surveying his appearance once more. “Remind me at some point that I’ll need to give you a haircut.” Before she resumed her walking, she ruffled Gaius’ ginger mess of hair, then gave him a cheeky grin. He stood there for a few moments, a small smile forming, then ran off to catch up with her._

* * *

Robin listened intently to Gaius’ story, completely enraptured with the tale of his and Cordelia’s friendship. He nonchalantly spun a pink lollipop in his hand as he spoke, sharp green eyes trained on its glossy surface.

“After her weeks of constant mothering I finally managed to fit in more and got myself a whole bunch of friends, including your Prince Charming. Unfortunately she moved to the other side of town a year or so later, so we didn’t see eachother as often, since she was in the year above me,” He stuck the sweet in his mouth and broke it with his teeth, the loud crunch disturbing the quiet atmosphere of the bedroom. “To put it simply, we grew apart. But more recently she’s been hanging around us – well, Chrom – a lot more. For the first time I realised how beautiful she’d gotten,” The light pink dusted on his cheeks was unmistakable, even in the scant light. He suddenly sat up, stretching his arms. “So! Whenever she tried getting closer to Blue I got a bit jealous. Naturally he didn’t care, but Cordelia sure did. But, hey, what else am I supposed to do?” Gaius looked to her for the first time since he regaled her his story, then stood up. “Y’know, Chrom gets all these girls like you and Cordelia chasing after him without even having to do anything. Meanwhile, guys like me and your knight have to work our damn asses off to even get a girl to look at us.” Robin frowned at the thought. It was true after all, poor Gaius kept being thrown to the sidelines by Cordelia despite how hard he’d been trying. She’d no doubt the same would happen to Stahl if he liked a girl, due to his naturally selfless nature.

“Then I guess you’ll just have to get a little help.” Robin rose to her feet, the Finch grin emerging as she began to formulate a plan to help her scorned friend. Gaius raised an eyebrow, a momentary flicker of regret crossing his features.

“Uh… Help?” He took a step back, but before he could contemplate fleeing Robin swung an arm around his shoulders. She poked his cheek and met his eyes with her own.

“Yes! I’m going to help you get Cordelia!”

* * *

“Alright, so, you see Cordelia on her own in the pouring rain with no umbrella – what do you do?” Robin rattled off one of the scenarios she’d written up in her notebook, tapping a nail on the monotone surface of one of the canteen’s tables. Gaius knit his brows together in thought, balancing a pencil between his nose and his lip. He snapped his fingers as the moment of realisation came to him, the pencil clattering to the polished plastic below.

“I’d say to her, ‘Hey babe, your clothes look soaked. Why don’t you come back to my place so I can take them off?’” He grinned to himself and crossed his arms, pride puffing out his chest. Robin let out an exasperated sigh and collapsed back in her chair, massaging her temples.

“No, wrong! If you said that to her she’d slap you and never want to speak to you again!” Gaius contemplated this, picking up his pencil again and now trying to balance it on the end of his nose.

“I thought it was pretty smooth.” He cursed to himself as the pencil dropped to the floor, rolling out from his reach. Robin stopped it with her foot, instantly commanding his attention. She gave him the steeliest glare she could manage, sticking her finger right in his face.

“You’re not taking this seriously!” Gaius went cross-eyed at the finger jabbed in his face.

“It’s kind of hard to take it seriously when I can’t talk to Cordelia anyway, Squeak.” Robin frowned, replacing her hand back on her notebook. Gaius stared at her evenly. The rest of Monday had been spent hyping Gaius up to approach Cordelia at lunchtime, but, like in the previous week, she didn’t show up. It was something Robin should’ve expected really. Not wanting her ginger haired companion to get disheartened, she came up with numerous scenarios and ‘training exercises’ that would help him talk to her. It was now Tuesday breaktime, and he had apparently had enough of her drills.

“You’re just using that as an excuse to slack off. We’ll deal with that _after_ you’ve gained the ability to talk to her like a functional human being.” Gaius rolled his eyes at her harsh tone, leaning back in his seat as he searched for another piece of stationary to replace his pencil.

“Hey Robin! Still running your Lonely Hearts Bootcamp?” The pleasantly warm tone of Stahl came waltzing over from the snack bar, arms full of various breakfast foods. Robin felt her face relax into a smile at his appearance. She rose and pulled out a chair for him, not particularly in the mood for being showered by foodstuffs.

“Yeah, but a certain _someone_ wants to give up.” She shot a glare to Gaius, who now found himself immersed in a cupcake Stahl had acquired. Seemingly oblivious to this, Stahl simply chuckled at Robin and took his seat, spilling out his arms’ contents onto the table’s surface.

“Well, that’s unfortunate,” He took a bite of one of the pieces of toast he’d bought, chewing it thoughtfully. “Though, to be fair, you’re probably not the most qualified person to teach how to speak to someone you like.” Robin turned to him, a gasp escaping at his betrayal. Stahl smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

“Ex _cuse_ me, I’ve had more crushes than I can count! If anybody knows how to tackle one, it’s definitely me.”

“Actually, the knight raises a good point. Have you even ever had a boyfriend?” Gaius tore his gaze away from the pastry, raising an eyebrow at her. Robin felt her face flush resentfully.

“I’ll have you know that I _have_ in fact had a boyfr-“ She stopped herself before she could finish the sentence, a lump catching in her throat. Robin squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, then opened them again as she regained her composure. Turning her attention to her nails, Robin amended her statement. “No. But I’ve probably had more experience with this stuff than either of you.” The two boys exchanged a curious look, but said nothing. Before they could get more off topic, Robin reached over and grabbed the cupcake Gaius had been staring at, earning her a whine from Stahl. “Look, Gaius, I’ll give you this if you promise to try another exercise.” The ginger narrowed his eyes, looking from the cake, to her, then back to the cake. He licked his lips.

“Deal.” Stahl looked desperately between the two, tugging on Robin’s sleeve. Without giving him an opportunity to object, Robin turned to him and whispered in his ear.

“I’ll buy you another one. Just help me out here, okay?” Seemingly sated with the prospect of more cake, Stahl nodded.

“Alright, but if they run out by the time we’re done, you owe me.” Robin rolled her eyes but smiled, turning back to Gaius and sliding the dessert towards him. The boy immediately tore into it.

“Let’s do a roleplaying exercise,” Robin picked up her notebook, tapping her chin with the end of her pencil. She pointed at Stahl with it. “Stahl, you’ll be Cordelia. Gaius, try practicing talking to him.” The olive haired boy blinked in mild surprise, then ran a hand through his messy bedhead, shrugging in consent. Gaius looked up from his cupcake with a look of pure bewilderment.

“Wait. You’re not serious, are you? I can’t practice on _him._ ” He gestured overdramatically at the boy sat next to him, sending crumbs flying everywhere. Robin crossed her arms and scowled at him.

“Hey, that’s rude! Stahl’s a nice guy. You’d be lucky to have a boyfriend as considerate as him.” Gaius stared at her, dumbfounded at the suggestion. Stahl reclined in thought, then smiled to himself.

“It’s true. I’d probably make a pretty good husband too; my mum says I make the best fig cakes she’s ever eaten.” Robin nodded enthusiastically at the boy, who now happily grinned at the thought. Gaius got to his feet in a panic.

“What the heck is wrong with you two?! Gods, with you guys here I’m _never_ gonna be able to talk to Cordelia!” He ran his hands through his hair almost frantically, gritting his teeth in a show of stress. Robin had never seen him so openly upset. “How am I supposed to help her out, huh?! She’s off somewhere, sad and alone, and I’m sat here with you… You…” Groping for words, Gaius rubbed his face, his scowl deepening by the second. Robin and Stahl looked to eachother with the same baffled expression, unsure of what to do. He finally exhaled and sat back in his chair, laying his face down on the table. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. Just forget about it.” Robin held out a hand to comfort him but retracted it. It seemed like her meddling wasn’t helping him at all. She was about to leave when she heard a familiar low voice.

“You three. Are you trying to help Cordelia?” The three in question all looked up to see the tall, dark skinned figure of Panne. She wore the same icy gaze she had the last time Robin saw her. Arms crossed over her purple top, she surveyed them all with her intense mahogany eyes. Stahl was the first to respond.

“Yeah! Ah, do you have any idea how to help, Panne?” She looked at him, expressionless, as if she were observing a child. It seemed to Robin that she was considering whether they’d actually be of any help. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she spoke.

“She needs to remember she has friends. I am but one person, so I cannot do much to convince her. However, if more familiar faces came to tell her so, I would think she may feel better.” Gaius almost shot out of his seat at her suggestion, standing face-to-face with Panne and desperately grabbing her shoulders.

“Whiskers, you can take me to where she is, right? I need to see her right now.” Panne quickly removed herself from his grasp, practically snarling at his contact. Robin looked up to Gaius from where she sat and saw the hope in his previously defeated eyes. Sparing a glance to Stahl, who was watching to see what she would do, Robin stood up.

“I’ll come too.” Panne turned and eyed her precariously, probably remembering what happened the last time Robin tried to help. Interrupting the tense moment, Stahl followed suit.

“Me as well. We should get going soon though, there’s not much time left until next lesson.” This managed to snap Panne out of her scrutiny. She pulled her lips taut for a moment, then turned and began walking towards the door.

“Very well. Come with me.” Robin knew where they were headed, but still found it difficult to keep up with the girl’s long strides. This resulted in Gaius charging ahead with Panne, with Robin and Stahl in tow, who had more than likely stayed back with her to stop her from miraculously getting lost. They all walked in complete silence – the only sounds that Robin heard were from the other teens messing about outside, dotted along the sides of the cobblestone path they walked down. None of them paid the four any mind. When the music rooms were in sight, Robin shot Stahl a worried look. She didn’t want to upset Cordelia anymore; the girl didn’t deserve it. The boy seemed to understand this and gave her a reassuring nudge and a gentle smile. That’s right, she didn’t have Stahl last time. This time would be different.

“This the place?” Robin turned her attention to Gaius, who had now come to a stop in front of the doors. Panne simply nodded and opened one for them to walk through.

“Fourth classroom down the hall.” As expected, the redhead hadn’t found another place to brood. Gaius sized up the building for a moment then ducked inside, out of view. Robin was about to follow him when Stahl paused.

“Aren’t you coming with us, Panne?” The girl turned her attention to him, face as impassive as ever. Stahl held her gaze and waited patiently for a response. Finally, Panne looked away and spoke.

“I told you, I cannot do anything to help her.”

“But you said that any support would help, right? You’re her friend. I’m sure she’d appreciate seeing you.” For a moment it looked like Panne was going to reject the notion, but ultimately she sighed and walked ahead of the two.

“Fine. If you think that would be best.” Stahl managed to catch the door before it closed, holding it open for Robin. She smiled up at him.

“You really do care about everyone, huh?” He met her gaze for a few fleeting seconds, then ducked his head almost bashfully, chuckling.

“I just don’t like to see anyone unhappy, it’s really not a big deal. After all, Panne’s been working really hard to try and cheer up Cordelia - it’d be unfair if she got left out.” Robin had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing at his modesty.

“If you say so.” She walked through the open door and started down the hallway, hearing it close behind her as Stahl joined her walk. In front of Cordelia’s classroom stood Gaius, who was attempting to peek in through the poster covered window. The beautiful intonations of Cordelia’s harp rung through the walls. Gaius nervously tapped a finger on the doorframe, trying to find the nerve to walk in.

“On second thought, maybe Cordelia wouldn’t want to see me. I’m just some pest to her after all, I’ll let you guys handle this one,” He whipped around and began to march towards the front of the building, but Robin blocked his way. The ginger boy frowned. “Squeak. Move. I’m trying to make an escape here.” Robin shook her head, placing her hands on her hips as she addressed him.

“You’re not leaving. You’re going to walk in there and show Cordelia that she has plenty of friends who want to help her,” Gaius glanced over his shoulder to the door, then back to her own pale face. A look of pure terror overcame his usually sharp features. In that moment, Robin understood: Gaius didn’t try in most things because he didn’t want to be rejected. Cordelia was no exception. If he faced her head on, even discussing platonically, and found out he meant nothing to her… That’d be the end of him. Robin’s expression softened as she reached out to place a hand on his shoulder. “You care about her, right?” He froze, slowly going crimson, and then looked to his feet. His hair fell in front of his face.

“More than I can handle.” He whispered. Robin gave him an encouraging push and moved to stand next to his side, offering an optimistic smile.

“Then she needs your help more than anyone else’s.” Gaius met her eyes. She could tell he was shaking by their close proximity. He shut his eyes tight, took a deep breath, then when he opened them, she found a strong determination reflected in those emerald depths. His lips quirked into a smirk.

“Right. Leave it to me,” Head held high, Gaius returned to the classroom. Stahl and Panne watched on curiously as he flung open the wooden door to the music room. “Cordy, you here?” Robin walked to the entrance to join her fellow spectators. Sure enough, Cordelia was sat in the same place she saw her last – sat on the far side of the room with both her hands trailing up and down her beautiful golden harp. Her head snapped up at the sound of his voice. While she looked much better than last time, Cordelia still held an air of melancholy; her hair was neat and her clothes were straight, but there was an unmistakable shallowness to the depths of her eyes. When she saw Gaius, she didn’t smile or frown – she simply looked at him.

“Hello, Gaius. What are you doing here?” Robin swore she saw Gaius flinch at the robotically cordial voice Cordelia spoke in. He stopped for half a heartbeat, then resumed his confident stride (that he was undoubtedly faking) towards the girl.

“Figured I’d come visit you! It’s been a while, huh?” He pulled a plastic chair up next to her and sat on it, a friendly grin pasted across his tense features. Robin felt a surge of pride at how hard he was trying. Cordelia regarded him suspiciously, shuffling ever so slightly away from him on her chair.

“…Yes, I suppose so,” The redhead was about to resume her piece when she spotted the three figures in the doorway. She narrowed her crimson eyes, spotted Robin, and then stood up, bristling. “What are you all doing here? What the hell are you all playing at?! Come to make fun of me again, huh?!” Robin jumped and hid behind Stahl instinctively, who also seemed daunted by the turn of events. Cordelia went to march over to the door but was stopped. She looked behind her to see Gaius holding her arm. His expression was humourless.

“We’re here to help you, Cordy.” He was almost begging her, his tone imploring. She scoffed at his earnestness.

“Right, like I’d fall for that.” She turned back to them and went to pull her arm from his grip, but he didn’t waver.

“I’m being _serious._ ” The edge to his voice stopped her. Cordelia looked to Gaius, her beautiful visage scrunched up in confusion. Robin stepped out from behind Stahl, equally as surprised.

“…What are you trying to pull, Gaius? This isn’t funny.” Her voice was reduced to a whispered whimper, relaying the hurt she’d been feeling.

“I’m not trying to be funny,” Gaius let go of her arm, any hint of a smile long vanished. “We’re here today to tell you… To tell you that…” He licked his lips and glanced over to Robin. She gave him a confident nod. It strengthened his resolve enough for him to meet Cordelia’s eyes. “There’s more to life than Chrom.” The redhead flinched.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking abou-“

“We all know, Cordy,” Cordelia ducked her head in embarrassment. “…I know your feelings towards him, but, there are other people who care about you,” He gestured to them again, drawing Cordelia’s attention. “Panne, for example, has been worried sick about you for the last week. She’s been running all around the school to search for someone to help you out, because she thinks she isn’t enough for you.” The brunette in question met Cordelia’s gaze, a sad countenance in those deep brown pools. Cordelia blinked dumbly.

“You… Have…?” Panne nodded, balling her hands into fists at her sides.

“Yes, I… I did not want to worry you. You have been nothing but kind to me and I hate to see you so upset.” Robin was surprised to hear so much emotion in the girl’s voice. Cordelia covered her mouth, guilt straining her vocal chords.

“I had no idea…”

“And Robin,” Gaius continued, gesturing to her. Robin wanted nothing more than to hide back behind Stahl but held her ground, meeting Cordelia’s more intense gaze as best as she could. “She messed up, sure, but she’s tried her best to set things right. Heck, after we counted the votes for that couples thing in the newspaper I snuck a glance at the article she’d written out for you and Chrom. You know what it talked about? How wonderful you are. How you and Chrom were irreplaceable.” For the briefest of moments Robin wanted nothing more than to scold Gaius for looking at newspaper material without her permission, but this soon passed when she caught the look on Cordelia’s face. She was _smiling_ at her.

“It’s… Um, it wasn’t much. It doesn’t make up for what I did. But… I was actually going to give it to you, since it didn’t make it into the paper.” Robin fiddled with a strand of her silver hair, unable to make eye contact.

“I’d like that.” She stopped and looked back at her, finding only gratefulness in those crimson depths.

“And Stahl…” Gaius continued. Robin looked up to the boy in question, finding Stahl looking at his feet, a hand entangled in his messy olive locks. He was nervous. She glanced at Cordelia, who looked at him expectedly. “…He cares about you a lot, too.” He finished, simply. Stahl flicked his hazel eyes to Cordelia and smiled lopsidedly, his nose scrunching up in classic Stahl fashion. Cordelia met it with a smile of her own. Something silent exchanged between them that Robin couldn’t figure out, and it made her feel the slightest hint of dread. “And I-“ Before Robin could ruminate further on that look – or before Gaius could finish his sentence – Cordelia swept her, Stahl and Panne up in a hug.

“I’m _so_ sorry! I didn’t know you all cared about me so much…! Gods, I hadn’t even thought…!” She was trying her best to hold herself together, but Robin could feel the small spasms of sobs through the close proximity.

“It’s fine, Cordelia! We just wanted you to know that we – and everyone else – are here for you.” Stahl patted the girl’s back, squashed between the redhead and Robin by the hug.

“I-I know that now, yes, I won’t forget…” It was evidently getting harder for Cordelia to hold in her emotions.

“Does this mean you’ll come back to hanging out with us at lunch...?” Robin began cautiously. Without even looking at her, Cordelia nodded. She had bunched her eyes shut to stop any tears from escaping.

“Of course!”

“If you do not mind, I would… Like to join. I do not wish to see Cordelia hurt like this again.” Panne, who was also caught between the other side of Robin and Cordelia, looked awkward in the embrace.

“Sure! The more the merrier!” Stahl answered, and they all broke into relieved, cathartic laughter. To distract herself from the merriment, Robin glanced over Cordelia’s shoulder. Behind her, still in the middle of the room, stood Gaius. His hand was still held out from where he’d caught Cordelia. Seeing the situation resolved, he slowly put it in his pocket. A bittersweet smile pulled on his features. His gaze still on Cordelia, Gaius mouthed the three words he was going to say to her: _I love you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Otherwise known as the chapter where Gaius saves the day.  
> Hey so this is the last proper angsty chapter (that I've planned anyway) for the next few parts! Neat, huh? Now I don't have to keep ripping your hearts out. The next two parts are gonna be more lighthearted (you guys have no idea what I have planned for the halloween one - it is going to be glorious) then we'll be kicking off the next proper arc! Which just so happens to be my favourite so far because, hey, it's gonna be Jay centred.  
> Also a little apology for this being a little later than usual xD I got sucked into the world of shoujo anime (PURELY FOR RESEARCH PURPOSES) so found it harder to get back to writing. Hopefully I'll be able to resume my proper pace for the next one P:  
> Today's title concerns sidebars - a secondary story related to the main one (the Gaius arc, in this case). It also just makes me think of how Gaius is pushed to the side by Cordelia, so, yeah.


	13. Comic Belief

It was a bustling Tuesday lunchtime, and autumn was in full effect. Their group on the bleachers were all bundled up in various large overcoats and woollen scarfs, noses reddened and running. Regardless of the biting chill that had set in over the past week, everyone was chatting amiably and energetically to eachother. There was a happy energy coursing through the air that hadn’t been seen since before the dance earlier in the month, and it brought a smile to Robin’s lips.

The Plegian in question currently wore a dark grey fleece with a purple trim, fingerless gloved hands spinning a pen idly over her bony digits, revelling in the pleasant atmosphere. Subtly casting a sharp golden eye over her shoulder, she spotted the two figures of Cordelia and Panne happily immersed in conversation a few rows behind her. The redhead wore a smile that set Robin’s nerves slightly more at ease. She hadn’t gotten much friendlier to Robin – even after that hug – but now at least she wasn’t actively trying to be cold towards her. As she ruminated on this development, she spotted a familiar head of ginger hair appear next to Cordelia. She couldn’t hear from this distance, but Gaius seemed to make a quip, which the redhead then laughed at. The smile that formed on Gaius’ face would’ve outshone the sun if it weren’t covered by the grey clouds above.

“Oh my gods, it’s Lon’qu! We saw you in the paper, ah, you looked so cool…! Can we get an autograph?” Robin’s ears pricked at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. Turning her head towards the sound, she spotted a couple of excited girls stood by the end of the bleachers, specifically next to the spot that Lon’qu had now sat. After a _lot_ of convincing from Lissa, the skater boy had finally agreed to sit with them at lunch. Unfortunately, this had afforded him a lot of new, unwanted attention since the latest issue of _‘Ylisse Now!’_ had released. Sighing, the brunette opened an eye (was he sleeping?) and pushed back some of his hair. He glanced at the girls, clearly uninterested.

“No.” He said, flat toned. Exchanging disappointed looks, the pair frowned and began to descend back down the bleachers, muttering to eachother.

“Lon’qu, that was rude!” Lissa bounded up next to his seat, arms crossed over her bright yellow duffle coat. The boy turned his apathetic gaze to her.

“They woke me up.” Lissa sighed loudly, flopping down next to him – an uncomfortably close distance, if Lon’qu’s fidgeting was any indicator – and flipped one of her blonde pigtails over her shoulder.

“You should try and be nicer to girls! Honestly, how do you ever expect to get a girlfriend if you act like that all the time?” She shook her head, tutting. Lon’qu raised an eyebrow and looked at her for a few moments, before he was suddenly pulled into a headlock.

“Hey, how come _you’re_ gettin’ all the girlies when poor ol’ teach over here ain’t gettin’ any!” Vaike began messing up Lon’qu’s hair with a tanned closed fist, earning a myriad of uncomfortable grunts from the Feroxi boy. Lissa had to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing at the sight.

“It’s not my fault you’re as attractive as a horse’s backside.” Lon’qu managed to cock a smirk despite his unfortunate position. This only seemed to anger Vaike even more.

“Why you little…!” Before Vaike could make any move to further harass the boy, Lon’qu took his moment of pause to duck out of his grip and pulled back Vaike’s arm into a very painful looking position. “Ow, ow, ow! Okay okay, you win, leggo!” The blonde’s voice had turned into a whine. Lissa was now in full-blown hysterics.

“Looks like we just found the reason why, Vaike.” The three turned their heads to see Chrom smiling good-naturedly, fighting not to laugh at the expression Vaike pulled in reaction to his jest. Lon’qu let the boy go as he began to clamber over the seats to his blue haired friend.

“You wanna go, Chrom?! Teach’ll teach you not to make fun of him!” Chrom began laughing as the blonde starting wrestling with him, most of the group turning to watch this match, offering various shouts of support. Robin grinned, cupping her mouth and joining in the chant for Chrom.

“L-looks like everyone’s in a r-really good mood today.” Robin drew her attention to the meek voice of the pink haired girl next to her, a gentle smile curving her lips as she watched Sully joining in the fray.

“A bit _too_ good of a mood, if you ask me.” Maribelle sat on the other side of Olivia, in the middle of knitting a scarf. Despite the harsh bite of her comment, Robin noticed the sparkle of amusement in her maroon eyes as she glanced at the multitude of laughing faces behind them.

“I think it’s pretty great,” Robin sat back down in her seat, still tossing the odd look over her shoulder to sneak glances of the boy wonder in mid-combat. She went to speak to Stahl but found him asleep in his chair, slumped back against the plastic with his mouth wide open as he snored. She choked back a laugh. That boy could sleep anywhere. “Still, I can’t help but wonder what’s got everyone so excited.” Robin turned back to the two girls. Olivia shrugged, her pink plastic windbreaker crinkling up at her chin at the movement of her shoulders.

“It’s because of the Halloween party this weekend!” Lissa’s chirp managed to be audible even over the chaos behind them. The bouncy blonde appeared out of nowhere, causing Robin and Olivia to jump. Despite the surprise, Robin’s interest was instantly piqued.

“Halloween party?” Lissa nodded, leaning on the back of the chair Stahl slept in.

“At my house, Saturday night! It’s gonna be crazy. There’ll be costumes, decorations, games… Oh, and me and Maribelle are making a cake!” The last word managed to snap Stahl into consciousness. He sat up, flailing his head around wildly.

“Did somebody say cake?” He turned around to see Lissa, then paused as he took note of the ongoing wrestling match that had spilled over the next few rows. “Did I miss something?”

“Just Vaike getting his butt handed to him again,” Stahl’s face lit up in understanding. Robin rolled her eyes and smiled, turning back to the jolly face of Lissa. “Sounds like a lot of fun. Who’s invited?” Lissa snorted, falling back on the nearest chair and grinning.

“Everyone, of course!” Robin raised her eyebrows, her own excitement beginning to bubble up. She’d never been to a house party before, let alone a Halloween one. For as long as she could remember she’d just spent the holiday either Trick-or-Treating with Jay or watching horror movie marathons at home. Her emotions must’ve shown on her face because Lissa’s grin grew. “It’d be awesome if you could come!” Robin felt her heart swell at the prospect of spending Halloween with all her friends, but she hesitated for a moment.

“There’s, uh, not gonna be any dancing, is there?” The blonde laughed, shaking her head.

“Nope! But there’s gonna be a lot of way more fun things to do. Like seven minutes in heaven.” Her grin transformed into a devilish smirk in a heartbeat, a knowing glint in her otherwise wide, innocent eyes. Robin felt her face heat up.

“Th-that’s the one where you... A-and someone e-else in a bottle spin… In a closet…” Robin stumbled over her words, feeling a bit light-headed from the sudden rush of heat. She gestured badly with her hands in an attempt to articulate her thoughts. Lissa nonchalantly examined her fingernails, but still couldn’t hide her smirk.

“Yep. And, y’know, there are _plenty_ of ways to rig a bottle spin.” The blonde giggled – it was almost a cackle, really – deviously. What would happen if Robin ended up in a closet with Chrom? Would the warm, close atmosphere of the closet finally drive him to realise his love for her? And if he did, does that mean they’d kiss? Or would it evolve into something _more?_ Robin felt like she was going to pass out.

“H-hey Robin, do you think w-we should do a Halloween e-edition for this week’s newspaper…?” Olivia’s voice managed to snap Robin out of her quickly spiralling thoughts. Turning to the girl, who bit her lip to stop herself from laughing at Robin’s crimson face, Robin nodded weakly.

“Yeah that’s… That’s a great idea…!” Her voice cracked. Even Maribelle couldn’t help but crack a smirk at the display.

“Are there people making decorations and food?” Stahl leaned his arms on the back of his chair, addressing Lissa. His eyes were still heavily lidded having only woken up a minute ago, a few grains of sleep stuck in his eyelashes. Lissa blinked, turning her attention from Robin’s teasing.

“Oh, yeah! The Occult and Cooking Clubs are working after school today to make them, actually. Maribelle’s even blowing off Equestrian Club to help out!” Lissa turned to her friend, a proud grin popping out a pair of dimples on her cheeks. Maribelle smiled kindly at her – a very rare treat that was only saved for Lissa.

“Why of course, darling. How could I deny you?” Lissa giggled, swinging her legs. Leaning in so that only Olivia and Robin could hear, Maribelle whispered under her breath. “Actually it’s because that girl is a disaster in the kitchen. You two better thank me for saving your internal organs from one of her rainbow pies.” She sat back up, hands poised perfectly on her lap, and smiled primly as if nothing had happened. Robin and Olivia exchanged bemused grins.

“We could go and write up articles on the food and decorations our readers could make for Halloween.” Robin turned at Stahl’s suggestion, his pleasant lazy smile present. She considered this. Instead of having a story they _could_ go with this idea and include instructions from the Cooking and Occult Clubs for making various Halloween related things. There was one problem, however.

“But Halloween’s this weekend. It’d be too late if we included it for next week’s issue.” Robin frowned, her brow creasing. It was a really good idea, too. Stahl seemed unfazed by this, shrugging casually and training his calm hazel eyes on her.

“We could just release it on Friday instead. I’m sure Chrom won’t mind, as long as we get everything done by Thursday.” Robin nodded at him, a smile tugging at the edges of her lips.

“Yeah… Yeah we could do that,” She turned to Olivia. “You ready for a fun little expedition after school?” The Feroxi pulled at her scarf, nodding, her violet eyes sparkling. “Alright then,” Robin grinned at Stahl, who returned the sentiment. “ _’Ylisse Now! – Halloween Edition’_ is a go!”

* * *

The cooking and art rooms were conveniently placed in the same building, allowing for an easy journey with as little opportunity to get lost as possible. It had a very unique atmosphere: the walls were covered in various drawings and art pieces the school’s students had created, while the air was filled with the delicious scent of food. Robin wished she could come here more often.

“It’s pretty nice here, huh?” Jay appeared next to her, slinging an arm around her shoulder with his usual Finch grin. “I used to come here all the time when I took Art last year,” He laughed and pushed up his glasses, but then his expression darkened. “Never again.” Robin raised an eyebrow, ducking out of his arm.

“Yeah it’s really gorgeous. Though I still don’t quite understand why you and Gaius had to come along with us.” She cast her gaze to the ginger haired boy in question, who was in the middle of discussing pies with Stahl. Olivia stood next to her, camera in hand, big eyes admiring the scenery. Jay shrugged, tucking his hands in his jean pockets.

“Simple: Gaius is here for the food, and I’m here to stop him from eating everything.” Robin thought about that for a moment. She glanced to the boy once again, enthusing about a cherry pie he once had, then turned back to her brother.

“Please don’t let him get us banned from here.” Jay grinned once more.

“Hey, no promises. Once that boy gets the scent of sugar there’s only so much I can do to contain him.” The boy in question had now caught up to the pair, sharp eyes flicking between them.

“Are you two gossiping about me?” Gaius gasped overdramatically and walked over to Robin, grasping her shoulders. “Don’t tell me, Squeak – you’ve actually fallen in love with me. Man, it was only a matter of time, no woman can resist my charms. Unfortunately I’ll have to turn you down; my heart already belongs to another.” He looked into the distance, unable to supress a playful smirk. Robin snorted.

“I couldn’t fall for you even if you pushed me off a cliff,” Behind Gaius, Jay started laughing at his sister’s dismissive quip, which Stahl started to join. Even Olivia had to cover her mouth to hide her snicker. Gaius removed his hands from Robin and crossed his arms. He seemed almost impressed, judging by his smirk. Before any further shenanigans could begin, Robin changed the topic. “You’re good at baking, Gaius. Why aren’t you in the Cooking Club?” Gaius unwrapped a piece of taffy and threw it in his mouth, chewing as he thought up an answer.

“I was. But then they kicked me out because I kept eating all the desserts we made,” He smiled almost wistfully to himself at the memory. “Besides – why should I cook when other people can do it for me? Nothing’s better than free food.” Robin nodded in agreement. Being someone who was utterly useless with anything that wasn’t porridge, Robin could understand the joy of eating other people’s cooking.

“Hey Gaius, you coming or what? If we don’t get there fast enough Sumia may accidentally destroy all the cakes!” Gaius shot over to Jay, snagging the back of his jumper and hurriedly running towards the cooking rooms.

“I must save those poor pastries from Tumbles’ clumsiness.” Robin watched the two march off, a smile quirking at their eccentricity. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Stahl beginning to subtly sneak away to catch up with them. Before he could take another step, Robin grabbed his arm – earning a flinch and an awkward laugh. He grinned guiltily at her.

“Um. I have to go with them? For… Research purposes?” Stahl gave her his most beseeching expression, hazel puppy-dog eyes shimmering in the artificial light of the corridor. Robin stared at him evenly.

“No,” His shoulders sagged immediately, cowlick drooping in dismay. Robin turned to Olivia and gestured towards the cooking classrooms with her head. “Olivia, I need you to take pictures of those cakes before Gaius eats them all.” The Feroxi nodded, gripping her camera.

“R-right!” She pulled up her schoolbag on her shoulder and began jogging to catch up with the two, amaranthine waves spilling out behind her. Robin glanced back to Stahl, who was now sadly watching them run off. Smiling, Robin let go of his arm and began to walk towards the art classrooms.

“C’mon Stahl, we can go there later. You know you wouldn’t have been able to work with all those distractions.” He sighed heavily, turning his attention to her and managing a forlorn smile.

“I know, I know. Still. I hope Gaius leaves at least some for me.” Robin laughed.

“Not likely.” Stahl sighed again, more dramatically. Still chuckling at him, Robin turned off down the corridor. The walls were lined even more heavily with artwork, and the smell of food was now being replaced with the nostril-burning scent of paint fumes. It made her feel a bit light-headed. The further down they got, the more detailed the paintings along the wall became: Robin felt like she was walking through an art gallery by the time they finally got to the end of the corridor. The walls opened out into a hall which housed the entrances to the art classrooms – two on each side. That wasn’t what caught Robin’s attention, however. In the middle of the empty wall on the opposite side of the hall hung a large painting.

The piece was painted entirely in what looked like oil paint. It used dark, brooding colours ranging from purples, to dark blues, to greys and harsh contrasts of black spattered across the canvas to depict a melancholy scene: a young girl, maybe about nineteen, with her back to the viewer, sword drawn, staring down a colossal black dragon that took up the entire canvas. Robin stopped in her tracks to just stare at it. The painting was nothing short of a masterpiece – she had no idea what it was doing on a school wall. Surely this belonged somewhere far more accessible, so it could be on full display for the entire populace.

“Uh, Robin? Tharja said they’d be in this room right?” Robin blinked, snapped back to reality by Stahl’s question. She looked to see him stood next to the first room on the left, watching her carefully as she stared at the painting. Nodding, she pulled her gaze away from the piece and walked over to the room.

“Yeah, this is the one.” Taking one last glance at the painting, Robin pushed open the doorway and walked into the classroom. As to be expected from the Occult Club’s room, everything was covered in black and purple velvet. The windows had been completely covered by long, trailing black curtains, leaving the vast array of lit candles as the sole light source. Lining a few of the walls hung cases of taxidermy bugs, including large and beautiful butterflies, moths and some iridescent beetles. It was suitably macabre.

“Hey guys! D’you like our clubroom? I hope you don’t think we’re _batty!_ Nya ha ha!” Henry jumped out from his dark slate worktable, swinging around a handful plush bats attached to black string, laughing like a madman. The boy was dressed in accordance with the style of the room – wearing a red shirt and some simple black trousers. Robin had no doubt that this was how he greeted everyone today.

“It’s very… Nuanced. Are those some of the decorations for the Halloween party?” In his crazed swinging, Henry had somehow managed to get most of the stringed bats tied around his head. Unfazed by this new look, Henry grinned.

“Yup! If you like these, wait ‘til you see the blood!” Upon closer inspection, Robin now saw that his shirt wasn’t actually red. Judging by the shade of his collar, it probably used to be white. She smiled tensely, praying that he didn’t plan on dumping the blood on them mid-party.

“Er, I’m sure it’s very impressive, Henry,” The boy ran a hand through his white hair, a streak of red liquid following with it, and grinned wider. “Could you do me a favour and tell me how you made all these things?” Robin pulled out her notebook and pen, clicking it.

“Of course! First, you just need to find a pi-“

“Woah, Robin! Come over here and look at these!” Robin turned around to see Stahl stood next to a round table draped in black cloth. He looked really enthusiastic about something laid out on it. She shrugged and turned back to Henry, tearing out a few pages from her notebook and handing them to him.

“Could you just write the instructions down? I’ll be back in a minute.” Henry took the paper, the edges now turning a light pink at his touch, nodding happily.

“Sure!” He walked back to his table and took a seat on a very ornate dark wood chair. Leaving him to his scribblings, Robin walked over to where Stahl stood.

“What’s up?” Stahl looked at her, an excited smile twitching at the edges of his lips. He pointed to the surface of the table.

“Look at these!” Robin followed his finger, her eyes widening at the sight. Laid across the table were what looked like tarot cards; all of the illustration looked hand painted, and boasted immaculate detail. Each one had its own spiralling range of colour, fine brushstrokes accentuating and expanding the limited palette the artist had chosen. There was no mistaking it: these were the work of a master painter.

“These are so cool…” She said breathily, not even daring to touch them. They felt like something that should be admired from afar. Stahl nodded in agreement.

“Do you think these are Tharja’s?” He turned to her, eyebrows raised. They hadn’t seen the Goth since they entered. Strange, considering she was the first to invite Robin after the discussion at lunchtime. As if right on cue, the door to the room opened. Both Stahl and Robin turned to see Tharja entering the room, her long black bangs falling just short of her eyes. She spared a glance at Henry, who still hadn’t untangled himself from his bat decorations, and grimaced. That was instantly wiped off her face the moment she saw Robin, however.

“Ah, you’re here. Finally, I can stop being surrounded by these fools,” She spat in Henry’s direction before quickly making her way to Robin. “If that boy makes another pun I’m going to put a curse on him that’ll last until his tongue dries up.” Robin was unperturbed by the girl’s spiteful words. Despite Tharja’s constant threats, so far she hadn’t appeared to weave her black magic on anyone. She could only surmise this meant that, below that menacing appearance, Tharja actually didn’t mind the ‘idiots’ that made up her list of acquaintances. Stahl stepped forward, eyes sparkling.

“Oh, Tharja! We were just looking at your tarot cards an-“

“If you come one inch closer to me I will _hurt_ you.” Or maybe not. Stahl froze in place, one leg raised mid-step, his smile fixed in abject terror. Robin moved in front of him to address Tharja, finishing Stahl’s question for him.

“Did you make those tarot cards?” Tharja quirked a small, creepy smile with her heavily painted lips as she spoke to her. Realising she was just asked a question, the Goth shook her head, dark hair swaying about her shoulders.

“No. That was Libra.” Once again, with scarily perfect timing, another figure stepped through the open doorway. Robin had never seen them before – they were tall, with long, shining blonde hair. They turned their head towards the three, and one thing struck Robin immediately: she was _insanely_ beautiful. The mysterious woman offered a kind smile, walking over to their small congregation. Her gentle green eyes were framed by long, thick eyelashes, and her skin was radiant, even in the scant light. In fact, her very appearance seemed to light up the otherwise dark, subdued room. The blonde examined Robin, then turned to Tharja and chuckled.

“Is this the world?” Her voice was warm and gentle with a strange calming quality. Immediately Tharja smirked and nodded. Robin and Stahl looked on in confusion.

“Er, I’m sorry, what?” The two turned to look at Robin, both with knowing, almost devious smiles. Libra ghosted past them and leaned across the table, picking up one of the tarot cards laid across it. She held up the card.

“Look closely.” Robin did as she instructed and moved closer, squinting at the card in hand. The beautiful illustration depicted a woman, naked save for a few pieces of cloth covering her chest and hips, with the words ‘The World’ inscribed in beautiful calligraphy below. The colours were primarily yellow and golds, save for the head of silver hair the woman wore… _Wait a second._

“That’s me!” Robin gasped, taking a step back and almost toppling over Stahl stood behind her. Didn’t Jay say that Tharja had tarot cards that looked like them? She didn’t think it was actually true, yet here she was, the proof right in front of her face. Libra smiled enigmatically and placed the card back on the table.

“There should be quite a few familiar faces here. For example,” She picked up another one, depicting a blonde person bathed in crimson robes and a modest crown. “I’m the hierophant.” Sure enough, upon closer inspection, the character’s face bore the exact same soft features as Libra. Stahl moved next to Robin, grinning uncontrollably, hazel eyes sparking with curiosity.

“That’s so cool! Which one am I?” Tharja interjected before Libra could, crossing her arms and glaring at the olive haired boy.

“The fool.” She hissed. Stahl hung his head, laughing emptily.

“Oh…” Robin patted his back reassuringly. Libra chuckled, taking this opportunity to introduce herself.

“You’re our guests from the Newspaper Club, yes? It’s very nice to meet you. I’m Libra.” She held out a hand, which Robin happily shook.

“Nice to meet you too! I’m Robin,” She then gestured to her friend, who was now trying his best to ignore Tharja’s constant glaring. “And this is Stahl,” He managed a friendly wave, complemented by the same mellow smile as usual. Robin glanced back over at the tarot cards for a moment, then turned back to Libra. “Um, if you don’t mind me asking… Er, you made these, right?” She followed Robin’s gaze and nodded.

“Yes. Tharja requested my help in making a new set, which I was happy to oblige,” She laughed modestly, smiling to the still hostile Tharja. “Although I haven’t finished all of them yet.” Robin glanced back to the table, counting nine cards displayed across the dark cloth. Brightening, she immediately began hurling a volley of compliments at her.

“They’re _amazing!_ Seriously! I’ve never seen talent like this from someone around our age. You better come show us the set when you’ve finished it.” Libra laughed humbly.

“You flatter me. But I’m afraid you may be waiting to see the full set for a while, unfortunately I don’t get much time to paint them currently.”

“That’s because your little prayer group doesn’t like the idea of ‘messing around’ with ‘dark arts’.” Tharja muttered, pale arms crossed in front of her black blouse. Libra reached a reassuring hand out to her shoulder.

“I’m sure Naga will hardly mind that I’m painting cards that tell fortunes.” The Goth shrugged, scowling at her feet. Staring curiously at Libra, Robin voiced her observation.

“You’re a woman of the cloth, huh?” The pair flinched.

“Um, no,” Instantly Robin felt a pang of fear in her chest. Ugh, she spoke without thinking again! What if her presumption hurt Libra’s feelings?! “I’m a _man_ of the cloth.” Oh. _Ohhhh._ Robin covered her mouth, mortified.

“Oh my gods I am _so_ sorry, I just thought – because of how you speak a-and your looks – th-that you were…!”

“It’s alright. I get it a lot.” Libra waved a hand dismissively, polite smile evidently more forced than it had been previously. She didn’t blame him; it must be tiring to be constantly mistaken for the wrong sex. Wanting to quickly change the subject, Robin looked around the room desperately trying to think of something. Luckily, Stahl did it for her.

“Did you do the painting out in the hall too?” Robin whipped her head around to him, eyes widened. Stahl caught her gaze and pointed to the card he’d been looking at, holding it up to her. The letters at the bottom identified this particular card as ‘The Hanged Man’, portraying a man with a head of subdued ginger hair – was that Gaius? – upside down, bathed in deep purple and blue hues. It clicked immediately: this was the exact same palette and shading techniques she’d seen in the painting in the hall. She turned back to Libra, eyes shining with excitement once more.

“ _You made that?!_ ” Clearly unused to this amount of praise in such a short space of time, Libra smiled awkwardly and made an effort to meet her gaze.

“Um, yes. The school requested to put it on display after I gave it in as my exam piece last year.” He made that _last_ year?! Gods, imagine how much he’d improved since then. Robin was overcome with a sudden urge to see as many art pieces from this guy as she could manage. She was a sucker for pretty illustration.

“Do you have any other things around that we can see?” She put on her best pleading expression, which Libra returned with a look of increasing discomfort.

“I don’t really have that much arou-“

“Your little comics should be around here somewhere.” Tharja supplied, one side of her mouth curving upward in a devilish smirk. Libra immediately froze at this, while Robin greedily snapped up the comment. Turning to Tharja with the same wide eyes, Robin questioned her further.

“He does comics?” Tharja nodded.

“Yeah. It’s this whole fantasy thing, about a group of warriors from some peace loving kingdom going on adventures to stop wars and stuff. Though there isn’t enough gore, in my opinion.” Despite the friendly and soft disposition Libra carried, the mortified expression he now wore was unmistakable. Robin turned back to him, more enthused by the second.

“That sounds _awesome_! Are you gonna publish it or something?” Libra quickly shook his head, waving an arm in denial.

“No, no! It’s just a silly little side project I have, it’s really not very go-“

“You know, Robin, he’s done quite a bit of it so far. It’d be the perfect thing to, say, publish a few pages of in a weekly serial.” Tharja met Robin’s golden eyes with her own grey ones, clearly enjoying the scenario she was currently a part of. It took a few moments to absorb what Tharja was suggesting, but when she understood, Robin’s mouth fell open. She turned to Stahl to find he shared her enthusiasm, the freckles on his nose scrunched up by the big grin he wore. She quickly moved closer to Libra, clasping her hands together in a begging position.

“Please, please, _please_ let us publish your comic in the newspaper! I’m sure our readers would _love_ it! Plus, it gives you a chance to show off your work to a wider audience, instead of just having one piece all the way back here in the art department.” Both Tharja and Stahl turned their attention on Libra as well, all displaying hopeful gazes. Libra steadily looked at them all, then settled on Robin. His facial expression was unreadable. Slowly, and almost without emotion, he formulated his reply.

“I’m… Not good enough to show anyone else my art. I’m sure your readers would just be disappointed,” Before she had a chance to interject, Libra carried on, sterner. “I have no confidence in my talents. I’m sorry to let you down, Robin, but I _can’t_ let anyone see them.” Robin hesitated when she saw him cast his eyes sadly to the floor, head drooped in guilt. Mustering up the warmest smile she could manage, Robin tried to encourage him.

“Hey now, none of that’s true,” For a fleeting moment he managed to make eye contact with her, but she was soon replaced for the space beyond her shoulder. “You really _are_ talented. You shouldn’t be so scared to show people.” Libra sighed, shaking his head.

“I’m sorry. I’m afraid… Ah, It’s hard to explain,” He looked up at her apologetically, then glanced to Stahl and Tharja in turn. The Goth’s expression was a mixture of frustration and genuine concern (which was a surprise in itself). Hurriedly, Libra retreated from them towards the door. “Excuse me, I have somewhere to be. Good luck with your newspaper issue.” And like that, he was gone. Tharja sighed in exasperation, collapsing in a nearby chair and pushing some of her black fringe out of her face.

“Ugh, trying to help people is _exhausting._ I knew there was a reason why I didn’t do it.” Robin chewed on her lip, looking to Stahl. He was frowning, seemingly in thought, with his brows knit in evident worry. She turned back to Tharja and gave her a tired smile.

“It’s at least nice to see that you do have feelings, Tharja.” The girl’s cheeks turned a bit pink at the comment, but she still retorted with a scoff.

“Don’t get used to seeing it.” Robin couldn’t help but laugh at Tharja’s dismissive tone, helping to relieve the previous tension. The Goth managed to quirk a small smile. To further dissipate the tense atmosphere, Henry tottered over to the three from the other side of the room.

“I finished those instruction thingies you wanted!” Robin looked to him. Somehow, in the space of about five minutes, Henry had managed to wrap even _more_ stringed bats around his head. Stuck between two particular strings was the piece of paper Robin had given him to write on. Sighing, she pulled the piece of paper from his face, Henry grinning like an idiot.

“Thanks, Henry. I really appreciate it,” She turned to Stahl. “We’d better get going. Olivia’s probably done by now.” He blinked, derailing from his train of thought and smiling at her.

“Good idea. Maybe she managed to snag some snacks for me…” He grinned, beaming with optimism. Robin could only laugh at him as she walked towards the door, waving at the two members of the Occult Club.

“See you guys later! Don’t forget to have next week’s horoscope in for Thursday, Tharja.” The girl examined her painted nails, nodding absently.

“Like I’d forget, like some other idiots.” She glared pointedly at Stahl on their way out. He offered an awkward smile as they closed the door behind them, standing for a few moments in silence as they simultaneously glanced at Libra’s painting.

“You’re going to be in the newspaper office tomorrow lunchtime, right?” He cast a hazel eye in her direction. Robin blinked and met it with a nod, pulling on a strand of her hair. There was something in that look that made her apprehensive, like he could see what she was thinking.

“Yeah. Me and Olivia were gonna sort out the pictures early, since they’re going to be more prominent if we're doing ‘How-To’ articles.” Stahl hummed in agreement, running a hand through his messy bedhead.

“Mm. I see,” He turned to face her with that lazy lopsided Stahl smile that put her mind at ease. “We’d better go fetch her then. I think that she could help us with the Libra situation.” Stahl began walking to the hallway. Robin stood still for a moment, but curiosity quickly drove her feet next to his.

“Really?” He nodded sagely, eyes straight ahead.

“Yep, really. After all,” He looked to her, rubbing his freckled nose with a free hand. “Olivia knows about being unconfident better than anyone.”

* * *

“Th-this Halloween party looks like i-it’s gonna be a lot of fun,” Olivia sat at her desk in the Newspaper Clubroom, organising the stack of photos she’d taken the previous day. The glossy surface of the paper showed rows of delicious looking cupcakes topped with various Halloween themed insignias and vibrant orange icing. She cast her violet eyes to Robin, who nonchalantly leaned against the girl’s desk. “You’re coming so y-you can flirt with Chrom, right?” Robin’s face went pink at Olivia’s unexpected teasing, looking to her with wide, guilty eyes.

“W-what?! No! That’s not the _only_ reason…” She mumbled, crossing her arms in a failing attempt to regain her dignity. Olivia only giggled at her. “For example! The food looks awesome, it’ll be fun to dress up, and it’s… Just gonna be a nice opportunity for us all to hang out, you know?” She ran a pale hand to the back of her neck, grinning sheepishly. The Feroxi nodded in agreement.

“Yeah. I-it’s kind of terrifying to me, but, at the s-same time, I can’t help b-but be excited,” Olivia thumbed through the stack of photos, pulling out the ones she deemed to be the best fit for the issue. She neatly organised them into a small pile and turned to Robin, holding them out to her. “It’s sort of w-weird, but being with you guys makes me feel more c-confident.” Robin felt her heart warm at the girl’s statement, gratefully taking the photos from her and absently glancing through them. There were a few comedic shots of Gaius being chased around the cooking room by Maribelle threateningly holding an umbrella.

“Uh… Speaking of confidence,” Robin chuckled awkwardly, putting the photographs to one side. Olivia looked at her expectantly. “Yesterday, when Stahl and I were visiting the Occult Club, we met a guy who was really good at art. Like, _really_ good. Tharja even told us he made comics! How cool is that?” Olivia smiled encouragingly. “But… Er, he’s too scared to let us put them in the paper. Says he isn’t good enough,” The pink haired girl’s expression turned into a contemplative frown, soft features pulled taut. Robin watched her reaction carefully. “…Soooo we were kind of wondering whether you could convince him otherwise? You know, since you can understand the whole lack of confidence thing.”

“I-it’s not the kind of thing y-you can solve by talking,” Olivia pulled on a strand of her scarf, which was becoming increasingly looser by the day. She paused, running her tongue over her soft pink lips. “Confidence in y-your talents… Takes a lot of h-hard work.” Pulling Stahl’s chair from his desk, Robin took a seat next to Olivia.

“Then how’d you do it? You’re so shy all the time, but when it comes to your performing and stuff you seem just fine.” Olivia smiled at the comment, locking her soft violet eyes with Robin’s own.

“I didn’t always used to be,” She sighed dreamily and leaned back in her chair, putting down the pile of reject photos. “I’d s-started dancing when I was very young. It was m-my favourite thing to do. It always f-felt so… Um, freeing,” She pulled up her scarf a bit more, the memory making her feel embarrassed. “But I was too s-scared to show anyone else apart f-from my aunt and uncle… Th-that is, until they entered me in the school talent show one year,” Olivia closed her eyes as she recounted it. “I didn’t have a-any friends. Nobody really knew me. B-but still… Everyone clapped for my dance. People even came to see me a-afterwards just to compliment me,” She opened her eyes again and turned to Robin, who listened to the story intently. “That’s when I realised: through my t-talent as a performer, I could get my f-feelings across to other people in a way I can’t express in words. Even if they d-don’t get it, or don’t even like it, it’s enough for me to just try – if my message can reach j-just one person… That’s all the confidence I need.” Olivia smiled warmly, her sunny expression enough to make Robin’s own lips twitch into a grin. Robin ruminated on her own work as a journalist; she may not be the best person around, or the smartest, or even the nicest – but through her writing she felt like she _belonged._ Like maybe she had a purpose. That with one story, maybe she could change the way someone sees the world.

“Is that really enough?” The familiar soft voice Robin heard yesterday rung out across the empty office, the source located somewhere behind her. The two girls spun around to the front door of the office to see another three figures stood there. Libra had his hand on his chin in thought, looking at the pair of Robin and Olivia. Next to him, she spotted the visages of Stahl – trying his best to cover up a goofy grin – and Tharja, arms crossed as per usual. So this was what Stahl had planned. Olivia simply nodded, unsure as to who this stranger was. A long silence passed before Libra finally sighed, arms dropped to his sides as he looked between Tharja and Robin. “…You really think I should include my works in the newspaper?”

“ _Yes!_ Definitely, yes. Please.” Robin shot up immediately, feeling dizzy at her quick movement. Regardless, a giddy grin spread across her features. Libra smiled at her, turning to Tharja. Everyone looked expectantly at the Goth. Flicking some of her dark bangs out of her eyes, Tharja waved a pale hand nonchalantly.

“Yeah, whatever. I suppose it’d be a nice addition. After all, you’d have to be a _real_ idiot not to like graphic depictions of horrific death.” Libra chuckled.

“Tharja, I told you I can’t include much blood.” Tharja sighed overdramatically, putting her hands on her hips as she rolled her eyes.

“Fine, fine. Just hurry up and join already, I don’t want to have to listen to this incessant prattling any longer.” Despite the sharpness of her comment, it was impossible to miss the genuine kindness in Tharja’s intent. Sidling past the two, Stahl patted the one empty desk they had left in the office space.

“This can be yours. We could help you move your stuff in on Friday, if you’re interested.” He casually leaned on the edge of the furnished wood, trying his best not to sound too desperate. Regardless, Robin could still spot the hopeful glint in his eyes. With a gentle smile, Libra finally nodded his head.

“Thank you. I will happily join your newspaper, if you’ll have me.” With an excited whoop, Robin almost fell over her stolen chair in celebration. Looking across the members currently stood in the room, Robin raised her arms victoriously.

“Alright! Now that’s outta the way, let’s get pumped for Halloween!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok can we all just take a moment to appreciate Libra because that guy does not get enough respect. Good? Good.  
> BUT HEY SERIOUSLY GET PUMPED THE NEXT ONE'S GOING TO BE HALLOWEEN. It's going to be the most stupid thing you've ever read, I promise you.  
> Also, strictly speaking, in terms of tarot card archetypes Robin actually fits the role of the fool more. But I mean they're from Tharja's perspective so obviously she'd put her on the most respectable card possible xD  
> Today's title is a pun on comic relief. Because comics. And also Libra's religion. I'm totally witty guys.


	14. Off The Record

The walk towards Chrom and Lissa’s house was uncomfortably long, especially considering Robin was stuck in a stuffy black dress that fell down past her knees. Lacking in the costume department, she had made the Fatal Mistake of asking Jay for help in coming up with a makeshift outfit for the Halloween party. As he happened to have a spare pair of fake fangs, Jay decided to make her into a dragon. A discount Grima, to be precise.

The pair of black felt wings strapped to her back sagged sadly behind her, an action mimicked by the badly sewn tail that dragged on the ground. It was probably already stained beyond belief. The only two parts of her attire that had any quality to them were the fake fangs Jay had provided her with and the pair of crooked, black horns she wore on a headband. They were probably going to be a pain if she had to squeeze into any tight spaces – like a closet, for a totally random and unrelated example – but they still looked pretty cool for the time being.

“Jay, this costume is pretty neat and all, but did you really have to paint the unholy symbol of Grima on the back of both of my hands?” Robin sighed, almost pricking her bottom lip with the edge of one of her fangs, and lamented on the purple paint smudged on her skin. It didn’t look like it was going to be easy to wash off.

“It’s all about the authenticity, Robin. You have to get into character! _Become_ the god of death and destruction,” Jay grinned, fangs in full view, and pushed back some more of his slicked back, silver hair. Her brother had decided to dress as a classic vampire for the party, complete with over the top cape, bite marks and a vintage waistcoat he’d found in one of the local charity shops. It was one of the rare occasions he’d actually opted for contact lenses instead of his usual glasses, as he remarked that it’s not often you find soldiers of the damned with eyesight problems. “Or you _could_ say,” Jay dramatically pulled up his cape and threw it back, the light night-time breeze carrying it behind him. “You need to _sink your teeth_ into the role.” He looked at her proudly, hands on his hips.

“Please, I’m begging you, no puns. We’re going to be stuck with Henry for the evening as it is, and there’s only so many Halloween jokes I can take.” Robin groaned, already regretting everything.

“There’s no such thing as too many Halloween jokes,” Jay nudged her arm playfully, his expression far too joyful for a brooding creature of the night. Resisting the urge to mess up his painstakingly styled hair, Robin simply rolled her eyes and continued walking towards their destination. “There’s a lot of us going tonight, huh?” Jay smiled almost wistfully, eyes fixed on the darkening horizon.

“Yeah. Pretty much everyone we hang out at lunchtime with.” Robin silently prayed that Cordelia wasn’t going to join in on any game of spin the bottle they played. She had nothing against the girl, but she could only imagine the chaos that would occur if she got to do seven minutes in heaven with Chrom. Gaius seriously needed to hurry up and confess to that girl.

“That’s nice,” Jay laughed to himself, attracting a raised eyebrow from his sister. “It’s weird to think there was a time when Chrom hardly had any friends.” He turned to Robin, not registering the look of shock on her face.

“He… What? There was a time when Chrom _wasn’t_ popular?!” Jay blinked dumbly at her surprised reaction.

“Yep. When I moved to the Ylisse secondary school he was just some random guy on the football team that nobody knew,” A nostalgic expression overcame his pale painted complexion, unobstructed golden eyes gaining a forlorn sparkle. “Then all of a sudden, in our second year, bam! Popular! Not long after that he came to join the small Film Club I’d set up, and we became best friends.” Jay nodded, happily recounting the memory. Robin frowned in thought. That’s strange. Chrom must’ve always been sporty and good-looking, but for some reason he only gained notoriety after a year in his old school. This merited further investigation at some point in the future.

“Oh, look! We’re here!” Jay’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts, instead attracting her attention to the modestly large house in front of them. While definitely not a luxurious abode by any means, the siblings’ home was far from small. The lush garden – now covered in newly made Halloween decorations – stretched a good few metres, bordered by a short, grey latticed fence. The building itself was painted a radiant white, boasting the inherent sleekness of the modern style it was constructed in. Robin stared on in mild disbelief as Jay unhooked the front gate, moving it with a faint groan of metal-on-metal. He paused and turned back to her as he realised his sister had stopped following him. “Yo, Robin, you’re gonna catch flies if you keep standing there with your mouth open like that. Do you really want to have fly-breath if you end up in a closet with Chrom?” Jay clicked his fingers in front of her face, the word ‘Chrom’ pulling her out of her stupor.

“I’m sorry, but _this_ is their house?” Robin pointed. Jay glanced at the house, pulled a thoughtful expression, then turned back to her.

“Judging by the fact their last name is on the front door, I’d have to say yes.” Jay grinned cheekily, his fangs grazing his bottom lip, and pulled on her arm. Stumbling over onto the cream flagstone path, Robin just managed to catch herself before she went veering into a constructed papier-mâché tombstone.

“Naga, Henry really went all out with these decorations.” Robin regained her balance and glanced around the garden. The place was completely littered with the boy’s handiwork.

“What makes you say Henry made these?” Jay followed her gaze, completely unfazed by the macabre scene. Robin pointed to the nearby tombstone’s inscription, topped with a little crow statue. It read: _‘Here lies Feathers. He should’ve known that cat was_ caw _se for alarm.’_ After taking a moment to let the truly awful joke sink in, Jay turned back to Robin.

“That boy has a problem.”

“I just pray he’s found a use for his fake blood that doesn’t involve any rituals or surprise bloodbaths.” The two siblings exchanged grave nods and resumed their walk to the front door. Even the door itself was impressive; made of grey slate, the double doors were formed in a stylish arch, complete with the family’s last name engraved above the letter slot. Before Robin could lose her nerve, Jay pressed the doorbell, causing an unexpectedly loud ‘ding-dong’ to reverberate behind the doors. Almost immediately they were thrown open, and Lissa stood before them.

“Heya guys! Aw, you two look so cool! I like the fangs.” The blonde grinned excitedly. She wore a black, cone shaped witch’s hat complete with a short sleeved blouse, puffy skirt, thigh high black-and-yellow striped socks and a star-tipped wand. Her costume was surprisingly well made, and only served to accentuate the girl’s already abnormally high cuteness.

“You make an adorable witch, Lissa.” Robin couldn’t help but smile at her appearance. Lissa giggled, doing a little twirl to fully show off her costume. Under her hat, she could see that the girl still wore her usual pigtails.

“Hee hee, thanks! But I have something even _more_ adorable,” Lissa winked enigmatically, then cupped her hands to yell over her shoulder. “ _Hey, familiar! Get in here!_ ” She turned back to the two, leaning back and forth on her black heels, excitement spilling out over her cheerful features. After a few moments of silence Robin heard a familiar sigh, and a brown haired Feroxi stepped into view.

“Meow.” He deadpanned, unenthusiastically holding his hands covered in a pair of felt paws. There, in all his apathetic glory, stood Lon’qu – from his neck to his feet he wore a suit of black, furry fabric, complete with a tail and a red collar and bell around his neck. A little triangular nose and whiskers were painted on his face in black sharpie, and on top of his head he wore a pair of cat ears. After fully taking in this sight, Robin and Jay quickly covered their mouth with their hands in a futile attempt to stop the hysteric giggling that began to jerk their shoulders. Under his whiskers, Lon’qu’s skin transformed into a deep crimson.

“Y-you look v-v-very d-dashing, Lon’qu.” Robin snickered, a few tears beginning to bunch at the sides of her eyes. Jay nodded in agreement, finding the same amount of difficulty in holding back his laughter.

“Yeah, th-those whiskers r-really suit y-you!” On the last word, the siblings both let their uproarious giggles loose. Lon’qu glared at them, face the same shade as his collar, about to walk away but was stopped by the blonde who appeared behind them.

“Excuse me. I’ll be on my way out now. Lissa, don’t go too crazy while I’m gone, okay?” The serene and calm voice of a woman passed through Robin’s senses, but her vision was still blurred from her laughter. Blinking out the tears, Robin froze as she came face to face with their headmistress. She smiled kindly at the little blonde.

“Of course, Emm! You can count on me!” Lissa grinned, giving the woman a cheery salute, who returned it with a humble chuckle.

“I know I can. Have fun.” Emmeryn turned and nodded to everyone, then began the walk down the flagstones. Robin could only stare at the retreating figure with wide eyes, snapping back to her three friends – who for some reason seemed completely unphased by this – looking wholly confused.

“What in Naga’s name was Miss Exalt doing here?!” She gestured frantically at the now absent woman. They all looked to Robin with the same blank expression.

“Robin. Seriously?” Jay put a hand on her shoulder, eyebrows raised, with a disbelieving smirk twitching at one side of his mouth. Robin scowled at him.

“Seriously what? Is nobody going to explain to me why our head teacher just walked out of Lissa and Chrom’s house?” Robin could practically hear the crickets in response to her question. Lissa and Lon’qu exchanged a bemused look.

“Robin, I know it’s hard, but I’m gonna need you to use your brain for a sec,” Jay pointed at Lissa, who fixed her big green eyes on him. He kept his gaze trained on Robin to make sure she was following along. “What’s Lissa’s full name?” Robin scoffed, crossing her arms. Of course she knew Lissa’s full name – she’d had to write it out countless times to credit her in the newspaper. What was he trying to pull?

“Easy. Lissa Exalt. What’s your point?” She even gestured to the name on the front of the house for emphasis. Everybody stared at her, dumbfounded as she held her eyebrows raised expectantly. Robin was getting tired of their coyness. “I don’t see how this answers my questi- _wait._ ” Robin snapped her fingers, beginning to understand.

“C’mon Robin, you can do this, just _think_.” Jay motioned his hands encouragingly, nodding at her in a totally not patronising way. As the realisation finally dawned on her, Robin couldn’t help but bury her face in her hand.

“She’s your sister.” She sighed, shame rushing to her cheeks. The sound of Lissa’s giggles were unmistakable, and she swore that – right on the peripheral of her hearing – Lon’qu snickered.

“You know, for a newspaper sleuth, you’re not very good at sleuthing.” Jay teased, poking her shoulder as she prayed for the ground to swallow her whole. She put her hands on her hips, raising her chin high in an attempt to regain her lost dignity.

“Am too! It’s just… I knew, I just forgot, is all.” Despite her great comeback, nobody seemed convinced in the slightest. Jay nodded slowly and deliberately, taking this opportunity to finally step into the house.

“Riiiight. It was a tough case, huh, Sherlock?” He grinned, disappearing into the main hallway as Lissa and Lon’qu began stepping away from the door. Biting her tongue, Robin followed them in. The inside of their home was just as impressive as outside: the place was spotless, the floor made of smooth, panelled wood, and the walls covered in a monochrome floral wallpaper. The aesthetic was, however, completely disrupted by the worrying amount of Halloween decorations splayed across the place. Some of the dangling bats Henry had made were hung from the ceiling, creating a sea of black, plush creatures above their heads. With every step Robin took another bat got stuck on her horns. On the left side of the hallway were the stairs heading to the second floor, and from her spot she could see a door at the end of the hallway leading to another room.

Trying her best to ignore the bats, she followed Lissa and Lon’qu into what was presumably the living room. A large white rug covered the majority of the floor, flanked by the rest of the furniture that made up the space. Two moderately sized grey sofas were situated on either side of the doorway, a TV directly across from them on the other side of the room. Upon entering, she noticed three familiar figures sat on one of the sofas, one of which Lissa immediately jumped on.

“Woah!” Chrom laughed as his sister collided with him, a witch hat being shoved in his face, which had been covered in a layer of grey paint. He cast his two amber eyes – wait, were those coloured contacts? – over to Jay and Robin, expression lighting up into a welcoming grin. Gently removing the blonde from his lap, Chrom rose to his feet and walked towards them. “A vampire and a dragon, huh? Pretty cool.” He nodded to Jay and Robin respectively, crossing his painted arms.

“You bet. And you’re a… zombie?” Jay asked the question for her, an eyebrow raised curiously. Robin subtly eyed Chrom up and down with her golden eyes, trying to discern what his costume was. The clothes he wore were very tattered, his jeans and t-shirt ripped in multiple places. Some of the tears revealed a bit _too_ much skin – for example, Robin could see a good half of his abs – which she tried desperately not to stare at. She failed at this endeavour, naturally. Chrom ran a hand to the back of his neck, almost embarrassed at the question. But before he could start his explanation, Lissa bounded over to them, looping an arm around his.

“Go on, tell ‘em why you’re a zombie, Chrom.” Her grin stretched from ear to ear. Sighing, the blue haired boy took a moment to compose himself, closing his eyes. When he opened them, Chrom’s gaze locked with the siblings’.

“It’s because Lissa’s a necro _meow_ ncer.” The whole room went silent. Steadily, even with the layer of paint, Chrom’s face become a darker and darker shade of red.

“I can’t believe you actually said that.” A bark of rough laughter exploded from the sofa. Robin tore her eyes away from Chrom to see Sully, clutching her stomach as she roared in amusement. She couldn’t see much of her costume from her perspective, but she had a clear view of Maribelle sat next to her, who was covering her mouth with a beautifully decorated feather fan. The aristocrat wore a stunning Victorian dress of red, black and white, with little heart patterns littered across the fabric. On top of her usual regal corkscrew curls sat a golden crown.

“Goodness, Lissa darling, are you really going to make him say that to everyone?” Maribelle managed to compose herself enough so that she could place her fan back in her lap, revealing the lipstick she wore in a heart shape on her lips. In fact, she was wearing a lot of make-up: the girl was wearing so much mascara that her eyelashes looked like feather dusters.

“Well duh! His costume isn’t as obvious as yours, Miss Queen of Hearts.” Lissa snorted, crossing her arms over her own black dress. Maribelle grinned smugly, fanning herself and running a hand through her curls.

“Why of course not. No one can truly hope to replicate my kind of quality.” She laughed, a bit too obnoxiously. Rising, Sully rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, okay, we get it, you’re rich. Cool outfit or whatever.” The redhead stifled a yawn, picking up a crutch, which Robin stared at with wide, worried eyes. Reacting before she could, Jay ran to her.

“Woah, _woah!_ Sully, are you okay?! What the heck happened to your leg?” Now that she was in full view, Robin could clearly see what the girl was wearing. Her entire right leg was covered in a big, kind of impractical, white plaster. Other than that, she wore a pair of jogging bottoms and a large red jersey with the words _‘The Bull’_ spelled out on the back. Sully stared at him blankly for a second before laughing.

“No, no, you got it all wrong,” Sully picked up her crutch, standing just fine without it. She waited a few moments for this to sink in before she carried on. “Think about it: what’s an athlete’s biggest fear? Spiders? Death? No, the worst thing that could happen to me is a broken leg.” Sully absently swung around her crutch behind her, almost knocking Maribelle in the face. Jay hummed in understanding. Trust Sully to come up with the most unconventional costume here.

“Pardon me.” A deep voice sounded from directly behind Robin. She blinked, now painfully aware that she was completely obstructing the doorway into the room. Slowly turning around, Robin came face to face with… brown fur. Turning her head up, she instead met the stern expression of Frederick. He was wearing a bear costume. He even wore a bear head that covered everything except his face. She had to admit, it was actually pretty adorable.

“What? _Oh_ , right, yes. Sorry,” Robin stepped back out of the way, allowing the boy to pass. In his hands he carried multiple snack bowls, which he moved in to place on the coffee table next to the sofa that she hadn’t noticed previously. “Nice outfit, Freddy Bear.” She snickered to herself. Even though she said it under her breath, Robin saw Frederick pause. He shot a sharp glare over his shoulder, freezing her in place, then resumed his work.

“Hey! Bubbles and Squeak finally showed up!” Three new people appeared in the doorway next to Robin, the smooth tone of Gaius sailing past her ears. Rolling her eyes, she turned to examine them. The ginger boy leaned on the doorframe, grinning deviously, a bowl of candy in hand. Strangely enough, he didn’t seem to be wearing a costume. The other two, however, were; Tharja hissed at Gaius for stopping right in front of her, squeezing past and sauntering into the room with a couple bottles of vodka in hand. She wore an intricate golden dress and heavy eyeliner, an ankh in her arms as she went to deposit the beverages on the table.

“Shut up, fool. Your voice grates on my ears.” Tharja spun around, pointing the item menacingly in Gaius’ direction. Before he could come up with some scathing reply, the country bumpkin – er, Donnel – interrupted, carrying another assortment of drinks.

“Y’all better obey ol’ Cleopatra over here, maybe she’ll put you under some ancient mummy curse or summin’.” His southern drawl was so thick it was somewhat difficult to understand half the words he was saying. A trail of straw followed behind him from his costume, patches of dried hay poking out from the raggedy clothes. He made quite the convincing scarecrow with the straw hat and the painted on stitches over his mouth. Robin turned back to Gaius, who watched them all in faint amusement.

“What are you, Gaius?” She leaned against the arm of the empty sofa. He flicked a sharp green eye to her, a small grin forming at the question. With one quick movement, he pulled out a white sheet and threw it over himself.

“A ghost, duh.” His voice came out slightly muffled behind the thin layer of fabric. Gaius had quite obviously exerted no effort in making this costume, two eyeholes very crudely cut out of the sheet.

“More like a lazy student.” Jay chimed in as he dismounted on the sofa, eating a handful of popcorn from one of the snack bowls he’d stolen. Pulling off the sheet, Gaius climbed onto the sofa – over an increasingly irate Maribelle – and collapsed in the spot next to her brother.

“And you’re an icebreaker, eh, frostbite?” He grinned, sneaking some popcorn as Jay laughed. As everyone began to settle down and converse, the doorbell went. Lissa shot up from her spot next to her brother, quickly grabbing Lon’qu, who immediately shook her off, and walking past Robin to the hallway.

“I’ll get it!” She sang, Lon’qu sighing deeply and following behind her. Curious to see the next few guests, Robin went after them. She leaned on the wall in the hallway as she watched Lissa happily throw open the door.

“Heya! Happy Hallowe-“ The blonde froze mid-greeting. On the other side of the door stood the pair of Henry and Sumia, the latter of which had an awkwardly stiff smile. Robin looked on in confusion for a second, until she realised what they were wearing. Sumia’s witch costume almost mirrored Lissa’s, save for the purple colouring and evident poorer quality. She even had a familiar in the form of Henry, who – unsurprisingly – was covered in head to toe in black feathers. He flapped his wings happily, completely unperturbed by the outfit issue.

“Nya ha ha! Looks like we’ve _ruffled your feathers_ , Lissa!” Henry laughed, making the first of many bad bird puns for the night.

“Gods, this is so embarrassing…!” Sumia ducked her head, pulling her poorly stitched hat in front of her face. Unlike Lissa, who clearly spared no expense and ordered her costume online, Sumia’s looked like she’d cobbled it together from some pre-existing clothing she had lying around. Needless to say, standing next to the blonde didn’t make her look any better. “Thankyouforinvitingustoyourlovelyhome!” Sumia sprinted between Lissa and Lon’qu, saying the words so fast they were difficult to hear. She barrelled past Robin into the living room, face bright red, probably eager to bury her shame in a pair of sofa cushions. Henry trotted after her, touching all the bats dangling above his head as he did. He stopped in front of Robin to admire her costume.

“Wowzers! You look just like an old Grima plushie I used to have!” Henry nodded approvingly then walked past her, laughing happily as he greeted everyone in the living room. Robin was about to thank him for the compliment, but then paused to wonder why he had a soft toy of evil incarnate in the first place. She shuddered at the thought. Best not to question Henry’s tastes.

“Happy Halloween! Woah, Cordelia, Stahl – you look awesome!” Lissa’s familiar chirp signalled the arrival of more guests, the names of which immediately attracted Robin’s attention.

“Ha ha, thanks! You make a great witch, Lissa. I hope you got Lon’qu declawed though.” Stahl’s good-natured laugh rang out soft and humble, earning a smile from those in earshot. Apart from Lon’qu, who simply grunted and tapped his foot impatiently.

“Thank you very much for inviting us.” Cordelia’s tone was forcibly polite. Robin froze when she heard it, Stahl-induced smile freezing as the two walked in together. What were they doing together? Do they live near eachother? Did they plan this beforehand? The pair squeezed past Lon’qu and Lissa, coming into clear view. The redhead wore a white, feathered dress, complete with wings and a single horn strapped to her head. Stahl, meanwhile, had cardboard plating covering the majority of his body. They were spray-painted green and were complemented by a fake sword strung to his hip and a painted knight’s helm on his head.

The two had begun to resume the conversation they were in the middle of when they were outside, but stopped immediately when they caught sight of Robin. Stahl blinked dumbly, looking her up and down, and finally meeting her golden eyes with his. Robin felt the sudden urge to run as far away from them as possible. He pointed a gloved finger at her.

“You’re a dragon.” He stated bluntly.

“And you’re a knight.” Robin sighed. Had they _seriously_ accidentally chosen costumes with matching themes? Cordelia glanced between the two of them, a smirk beginning to emerge on her glossed lips. She flipped a few strands of red hair behind her shoulder, walking towards the living room.

“Cute.” Flicking a ruby-eye to Robin, Cordelia’s voice spoke with an insufferably smug tone. Before Robin could respond, she disappeared into the room behind her. What the heck did that mean? Frowning at the girl’s comment, Robin turned back to Stahl, who was still staring at her. She suddenly felt self-conscious under his gaze, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Uh, hey,” Robin started, pulling his attention away from her appearance. “You’re looking pretty gallant this evening.” Stahl cracked a smile, causing the edges of her own lips to twitch upward.

“And you’re looking pretty villainous, if I may be so bold.” He chuckled, any weird atmosphere between them dissipating. Robin laughed with him, making a small twirl and a brief curtsy.

“Why thank you.” She leaned against the doorframe, grinning as he offered her a round of impressed applause, nodding approvingly. The pair’s shenanigans were interrupted by a loud bout of laughter originating from the living room. Turning to the doorway, Robin spotted a familiar ginger figure sprawled out on the floor, covered in a layer of popcorn. Stahl was the first to react, striding towards Gaius and offering him a hand. Robin followed to see that the room was now filled, both sofas fully occupied by snickering teens.

“Sorry, darling, did I trip you?” Maribelle waved her fan in front of her face, trying to hide her growing grin. From one look at the girl’s outstretched leg Robin could surmise what had happened. The figure of Cordelia stood above the boy, an eyebrow raised and arms crossed, decidedly unamused. This was probably because the bowl that once held the popcorn scattered on Gaius’ body was now on top of her head. With Stahl’s assistance Gaius had gotten back on his feet, hastily trying to get the popcorn bits off of him.

“You owe me a bowl of popcorn, Twinkles.” He tried to laugh it off, casting a subtle glance to see Cordelia’s reaction. The redhead wasn’t paying any attention to him, now preoccupied with cleaning herself off.

“You can have _one_ slice of the cake Lissa and I made. That should be more than enough payment.” The blonde glanced to her red nails to emphasise her disinterest.

“Isn’t everyone getting a slice anyway?” Jay chimed in from the edge of the sofa that was getting increasingly more packed, now situated a bit too close to Chrom, who was watching the exchange with a bemused expression. Luckily there was still a considerable space between them, considering that was where Gaius sat before he was unceremoniously tripped. Shooting him a reproachful glare, Maribelle signalled for Robin’s brother to shut up. He shrugged.

“Hey, Gaius, what do you think of my costume?” Stahl’s enthusiastic question cut through the tension, eyes shining expectantly as the ginger boy turned to examine him. Gaius lazily looked the boy up and down, then cocked an eyebrow as he responded to him.

“Pretty cool.” He was momentarily distracted by Cordelia, who now moved to sit in the space between Jay and Chrom. The redhead shyly nodded to them – well, Chrom, she pretty much ignored the vampire – who then nodded politely in response. Robin’s eyes narrowed at her seemingly innocent movement. Damn it, she should’ve taken that spot when Cordelia was distracted.

“Just cool?” The disappointment was thick in Stahl’s voice, causing the knight to slump his shoulders dejectedly. Gaius blinked, crossing his arms as he looked back to the boy.

“Yeah. What, were you trying to make a point or something?” Gaius was apparently completely oblivious to the reference Stahl had made to his nickname. Scuffing the carpet with his shoe, the olive haired boy moved next to Robin, slumping against the arm of one of the sofas.

“No…” He mumbled, pouting. Robin rolled her eyes and sat next to him, inconspicuously glancing over her shoulder to look at Chrom. Luckily for her, Cordelia seemed to have lost her nerve, and was now sat silently staring at her lap. Jay caught his sister’s gaze and grinned, gesturing to the blue haired boy – who now found himself in conversation with Maribelle – and winking. Robin suddenly felt her face grow hot and looked away, distracting herself with the now dour Stahl, giving him an encouraging nudge. He smiled at her, but before any further conversation could be had, Lissa and Lon’qu appeared back in the room.

“Hey, everyone’s here now! This means we can show you all the cake we made!” Lissa’s high pitch voice easily carried across the loud room, pulling the attention of everyone in attendance. At the word ‘cake’, pretty much everyone rose to their feet and followed after the blonde back into the hallway, Maribelle leading the fray. The boy that previously sat next to Robin instantly joined the march. It only took a few seconds for the room to completely empty, leaving Robin sat on the arm of the sofa. Lissa said everyone was here, right? But where was…

“Um, h-hello…” She looked up at the small voice of Olivia. Robin’s eyes went wide as she surveyed the girl. There was only one word to describe how she looked: _adorable._ It was like a glitter bomb and a basket of kittens had a baby; the pink haired Feroxi wore a sparkly strapless dress, complete with a pair of pink wireframe fairy wings and a various assortment of glittery make-up. She obviously felt Robin’s shameless staring so drew her gaze to her feet. “C-could you stop staring at me…?”

“What? _Oh!_ Right. Yes, sorry,” Robin laughed, moving past the girl into the hallway and patting her shoulder. “You look great, Olivia.” The Feroxi looked up, smiling shyly.

“Th-thanks… Um, so do you!” She fiddled with a stray lock of pink hair that had escaped from her messy updo. Moving through the doorframe, Robin gestured for Olivia to follow her into the kitchen, where everyone had now congregated. The room itself boasted clean white tiling along with grey marble countertops, coupled with some very high-end cooking equipment. On the far wall was a door to the back garden, made entirely out of frosted glass. The part of the room that everyone was interested in, however, was in the middle of the kitchen; all the party-goers had gathered around a sleek dining table, empty save for a single, large cake situated right in the middle. Even though Robin had no knowledge of the baking arts, she could safely say that this was an expertly crafted cake. From what she could tell, it was chocolate and essentially two tiered, with masses of whipped cream and jam oozing from between the layers of cake. Robin could feel herself salivating at the sight of it.

“So this is what you skipped Equestrian Club for?” Sully looked quizzically at the cake, then to Maribelle, a thin eyebrow raised accusatorily. The blonde flipped one of her curls behind her shoulder and unfurled her fan.

“I had to make sure the recipe was perfect for today. Lissa and I did a perfect job, don’t you think?” Maribelle turned to Lissa, who was excitedly swaying back and forth on her heels. Lon’qu still stood next to her, looking as disinterested as always. Out of the corner of her eye Robin spotted the pair of Sumia and Henry, stood at the back of the crowd as the former continued to try and hide herself. Looked like the costume debacle was going to haunt her for the rest of the evening.

“Yeah, yeah, you did good, can I get that slice you owe me now?” Gaius was already reaching a hand out towards the cake as he spoke, but was quickly slapped away by Maribelle’s fan. “Ow!” He shook out his assaulted limb, looking reproachfully at the girl.

“No cake until midnight!” Crossing her arms, Maribelle gestured to the clock hung above the doorway. A loud groan sounded from the majority of those present.

“It’s already Halloween though!” Stahl whined, managing to secure a spot at the front of the spectators.

“Yeah, I don’t really see why we have to wait.” Jay chimed in. Stood next to him, a weary Chrom sighed.

“Lissa, would you like to explain why?” He droned the question, and by Lissa’s reaction it was obvious this was another line she’d planned for him. The blonde grinned and held up her wand.

“Because midnight’s the _witching_ hour!” The room went silent. Nobody even cared to dignify the joke with a groan. This didn’t seem to dampen Lissa’s spirit however, as the girl began walking to the hallway. “So, in the meantime, let’s party!” This time she was greeted with a chorus of agreeing hoots and hollers, the room now emptying back into the hallway. Robin let herself get swept along with the crowd, Olivia walking alongside her.

“So… What are you s-supposed to do at a p-party…?” The Feroxi turned her curious violet eyes on Robin as they re-entered the living room, snagging a spot on one of the sofas before everyone else piled in. Robin frowned to herself, adjusting the position of her tail so she didn’t sit on it. What _are_ you supposed to do at a party? She ruminated on this, tapping one of her fake fangs in thought. She’d never been to one, so the only idea of a house party she had was from the various teen themed movies she and Jay had watched. Luckily, Gaius and Sully answered this for her, as they put on some music, yelled ‘party’, and started dancing. Despite her fake cast, Sully was actually really good, and Gaius’ movements were surprisingly smooth.

“That, I guess.” Robin pointed to the pair, a few more figures joining them – most notably Lon’qu, who stood in the middle of the dancefloor awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Olivia followed her eyeline to Henry, who was now doing his own version of the chicken dance. They had no words to comment on this. She glanced back to Robin, who nudged her encouragingly. A disconcerting amount of glitter ended up sticking to the purple paint on the back of her hand.

“Go show them who the real dancing queen here is.” Robin grinned, trying to wipe off the glitter as subtly as she could on the sofa. Taking another longing look to the dancefloor, Olivia smiled, rising to her feet and nodding at Robin’s words.

“I’m not sure about that, b-but… I’m gonna go have s-some fun!” Olivia giggled – a small, sweet sound – and walked towards the dancers. As soon as she started moving, it quickly became apparent to everyone around her that Olivia was far better than anyone in the room. Instead of stopping to stare, however, they all started cheering her on and trying to join in her complicated routine. Though evidently embarrassed at the attention, Olivia actually slowed down and began to instruct a few of them on one of the more basic moves she’d executed. Gaius caught on pretty quickly, and soon enough the makeshift dancefloor was alive again, with the pink haired Feroxi in the centre.

Casting a wayward glance to the rest of the room, Robin spotted Stahl by the coffee table, eating as many snacks as he could manage (which was a lot). Next to him was Frederick, the bear-clad man keeping a very wary eye on the boy’s food intake. Probably for the best, considering what happened at the dance a few weeks ago. On the other sofa sat Maribelle and Donnel, who Robin noted were situated _very_ close together, along with Tharja, Lissa and Chrom, who sat watching the dancers, laughing and clapping along at the show. Cordelia had been resigned to the floor, apparently taking no note of the empty sofa Robin sat on. Unfortunately, Gaius appeared too caught up in the rhythm to stop himself from moving into Jay, who had been making his way across the room with two drinks in hand. This collision resulted in Jay carrying zero drinks and the floor being covered in liquid.

“Gods, Gaius! Could you stop causing such a mess for _one_ minute?” Maribelle’s scolding tone cut through the music, immediately eliciting an eye roll from the ginger haired boy himself.

“Alright, Twinkles, I’ll go clean it up now. Would that please her majesty?” Gaius made a sarcastic bow, sidestepping around the puddle and beginning to walk out of the room.

“Oh, I can help if you want, Gaius.” Jay quickly gathered the glasses he’d spilled and went to move after him, but was stopped by a shake of the boy’s head.

“Nah, don’t worry about it Bubbles. I got this covered.” He gave her brother a reassuring grin and stepped out of the doorframe, throwing a hard-boiled candy in his mouth along the way. As this was happening, the doorbell rang. Lissa immediately jumped up from her spot on the sofa and clambered across the room, signalling for Lon’qu to follow suit. He did, reluctantly. Didn’t she say all the guests were here? Shrugging, Robin pulled her legs up onto the sofa. If no one was going to sit next to her then she figured she may as well make the most of having her own comfortable spot. She eyed the now empty position on the other sofa. She could totally walk over there and sit next to Chrom. All she’d need to do was get there before Cordelia, who had now begun slowly rising to her feet. A sense of alarm shot through her, but before she could even make a move to stand up, Sully flopped down in the free spot.

“Ah, to hell with this damned thing! My foot feels like it’s been mummified.” Sully cursed, trying to pull the fake cast off her foot. Tharja tsk’d at the reference and handed the redhead her ankh.

“For the record, the ancient Egyptians wouldn’t waste a curse on a foot,” The dark haired girl crossed her arms, attracting a thankful yet somewhat worried look from Sully. She took the ankh and began prying the cast off. “Legs, on the other hand…” At Tharja’s mutter, the costume piece launched free, flying across the room and hitting a certain brunette in the head.

“Oh gods, Sumia, are you okay?!” Sully went to rise to her feet to look at the girl, but before she could make a move Sumia bolted towards the doorway.

“Nothing’s going right for me today!” She sobbed, ash brown curls bobbing beneath her hat as she ran. Gaius, who had now returned with a hand of kitchen roll, watched Sumia exit out into the hallway, almost immediately followed by Henry running after her.

“Sumia, wait!” The crow dashed through the doorway, out of Robin’s sight. She met Gaius’ own confused green orbs and shrugged.

“Welcome to your first party, Squeak. For the record, yes, they’re always this crazy.” He grinned, tossing her one of his candies. Catching it, Robin looked at the sweet and raised an eyebrow at him.

“You’re not eating the Halloween ones from the snack bowl?” She glanced over the glossy, polka dotted wrapper.

“Are you kidding? Festive candies always taste like they’ve been sitting around for a year. Nah, I have standards, y’know. Good thing I always have my trusty stash on me.” His grin grew, tapping the small pouch he had at his side. Robin bit back a goofy smile at the boy’s antics and tucked his offering in her pocket.

“Anyway, if parties are always this insane, it’s a good thing you’re here to clean up the mess.” She gestured to the kitchen roll. Gaius snorted and walked towards the puddle on the floor, pulling a few sheets off.

“Oh, yeah. I’m all about cleaning up all this craziness. I’m practically a maid of chaos.” Giving her a wink, Gaius kneeled and began to try and mop up the drink spillage from earlier. He tried to catch Cordelia’s eye as he did, but the redhead had turned her attention to her phone. Robin surmised she was probably texting Panne or something.

“Fear not, comrades, this party has been saved by I, the dashing Virion!” The obnoxious accent of a certain ‘blue haired twat’ (as Tharja called him) came into earshot, the boy in question bounding in as elegantly as he could. As expected of Virion, he wore a completely over the top costume – specifically that of the stereotypical Prince Charming, complete with puffy sleeves and cravat. He looked ridiculous. Lissa followed in after him, the brunette Feroxi strangely absent.

“Great. Who invited the Duke of Dorks?” Sully snorted, venomous crimson eyes glaring at the boy. Completely oblivious to her insult, Virion gasped and walked over to the sofa, grasping one of the redhead’s hands in his own.

“Why, if it isn’t my dearest Sully! You look positively _radiant_ this evening, even moreso than usua-“ He was interrupted by the loud ‘thwack’ of the crutch being slammed into his face. Virion stumbled back, holding his face protectively.

“Stay back, creep! Don’t think I haven’t forgotten about what you did last time!” The redhead snarled, holding the crutch in front of her to keep him at a distance.

“Ah, I heard the most beautiful of roses had thorns, but alas, I did not heed that warning.” Virion sighed in defeat, resigning himself to a spot on the floor next to the coffee table. Sensing the boy’s mood, Stahl offered him a crepe, which Virion took gratefully.

“Ugh, I’ve had enough of this. I’m gonna go cool down for a sec.” Sully got to her feet, tossing her crutch to the side. She wasn’t sure, but Robin swore she saw a bit of guilt etched into the girl’s reddened features. As she left, the pair of Henry and Sumia returned. While still looking sadder than usual, the brunette seemed better than she had been all evening. Henry was in the middle of telling her a terrible joke and managed to make Sumia laugh, a reassuring sight for those who could see it. Taking one of her hands in his own feathered one, the boy pulled her along to a free spot on the floor, sitting down and resuming their conversation.

“Hey, stranger. Fancy seeing you here.” Robin’s attention was pulled by the sound of her brother’s voice. He stood above her, holding two small glasses. She smiled, pulling her legs in so that he could sit next to her.

“Thank Naga, I was starting to think that I smelled weird or something.” She grinned as her brother chuckled at her.

“You do, but I don’t think that’s why nobody’s sat with you,” Jay smiled at her cheekily, sitting down on the sofa and glancing about the room. Her position did have the best view of what everyone was doing. “If it makes you feel any better, judging by how Lissa’s emptying that bottle, it’s going to be time for a _certain_ game pretty soon.” He glanced to the blonde who had now stood by the coffee table, pouring drinks for everyone. Robin’s heart raced at the sight. What if she really _did_ end up with Chrom for seven minutes in heaven? Lissa had mentioned something about rigging the bottle spin… She ran her tongue over her lips, suddenly feeling very nervous. Glancing back to her brother, she noticed the two glasses of clear liquid in his hands.

“Oh, thanks for the lemonade Jay, I was starting to get a bit thirsty,” Giving him a grateful nod, she took the glass from his hand and swallowed its contents in one big gulp. Weird. That didn’t taste anything like lemonade. It actually burned a bit on the way down her throat, causing her eyes to water. Robin turned to see the horrified face of her brother. “…What?” She blinked dumbly.

“That wasn’t lemonade, Robin. That was _vodka._ ” Jay looked again at the empty glass in her hand, still unable to believe what he had just witnessed. Robin frowned, about to ask him what the problem was but was immediately hit with a wave of dizziness. Dropping the glassware onto the safe plushy surface of the cushions, Robin grabbed her brother’s shoulder to steady herself. Was she drunk? Was this what being drunk felt like?

“I ffffeel… weird.” She managed to sound out, blinking repeatedly to try and make the disorientation go away. She looked up to Jay’s worried expression and was suddenly overcome by giggles. This only made him look even more concerned.

“Maaaybe you should take it easy for a second.” He put the other full glass down, far from her reach, regret already taking hold in his unobstructed golden eyes. Robin snorted, waving a hand as she flopped back against the sofa.

“It’s fine, fine, fine, I’m too… What’s the word…?” She groped the air, eyes narrowing. It was like her thoughts were obscured by a film of fuzziness. Robin rubbed her eyes, frowning. She glanced over to the rest of the room and saw the cardboard clad figure of Stahl walking towards them. “Heeeey it’s Stahl!” Her previous line of thought completely forgotten, Robin sprung to her feet, tumbling as she took a step forward. From her crumpled spot on the carpet, she could see the wide eyed expression of her olive haired friend. She stared at him for a moment, before bursting into laughter. 

“Um, is she okay?” Stahl glanced to Jay, who had now moved to stand next to him. He shrugged, pulling up Robin by the arm.

“She’s drunk,” He stated simply as she leaned on his chest, still giggling. “My own fault for bringing her straight vodka. I was gonna go grab some coke from the kitchen, but it’s a bit late for that now.” Jay sighed, trying to stand Robin up straight. She was finding it hard to stay still, her mind jumping from one thing to another before she could formulate a proper line of thought. Almost stumbling into Stahl, Robin moved to point at the dancefloor.

“Guys. _Guuuuuys._ Let’s go daaaance!” She whined, pulling on the fabric of Stahl’s shirt. He looked conflicted, to say the least. Jay unhooked her grip for him, putting a hand on her shoulder as he tried to reason with her.

“Seriously Robin, I think you should go sit do-“

“ _Liiiiiiiv!_ Come dance with meeee!” She pulled away from Jay, managing to walk to the Feroxi who’d paused at the sound of her friend’s voice. Olivia smiled widely at her, a sheen of sweat covering her forehead. Even in her tipsy state Robin could tell that the girl was at the happiest she’d seen her since they first became friends. Laughing, Olivia caught Robin’s outstretched arms.

“Alright! Let m-me show you some moves!” In her exhilarated state, Olivia didn’t seem to notice Robin’s erratic behaviour. As the girl led her away, Robin glanced over her shoulder to see Stahl and Jay sat on the sofa, watching her with concerned expressions. She stuck her tongue out at them and turned her attention back to Olivia, almost tripping up in the process.

The centre of the room was warm; the other figures dancing around them were reduced to a blur of colour and shapes as Robin tried to focus on the pink haired girl in front of her. Laughing and caught up in her disorientation, she almost fell into Olivia a few times, but the girl simply giggled and pulled her into more dance moves. Despite her previous inhibitions, Robin was having fun. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the hazy outline of Chrom sat on the sofa. A part of her – the part that seemed to be egged on by the alcohol in her system – wanted to go over and pull him up to dance with her. But she knew he wouldn’t appreciate that, considering his two left feet. The voice of reason dissolved in her head as this thought crossed through her mind, driving her in the direction of the blue haired boy. Olivia taught him how to dance, right? Besides, he said he liked dancing with her! It’d be fine.

Luckily, before she could get any closer to the sofa, Sully reappeared and blocked her way. The redhead blinked and looked down at the laughing mess that had just bumped into her.

“Woah there Robin, you alright?” She managed to catch Robin’s arm before she fell to the ground again, pulling her back onto her unsteady feet.

“IIIIII’m a-okay!” To emphasise the message of her semi-coherent slurs, Robin made the ‘OK’ sign with her hand. Then almost immediately fell forwards. Sully caught her again, unable to hold back laughter at the girl’s unusual disposition.

“Ha! Like hell you are. Looks like someone’s gotten a bit too into the Halloween spirit.” She grinned. Robin exploded into another mess of giggles and shrugged sloppily, tugging on Sully’s arm.

“I don’t care! I’m having too much fuuuun! Hey, Sully, c’mon – let’s go dance!” Robin tried to make her way back into the makeshift dancefloor but was caught by the redhead’s strong hold. Sully raised a concerned eyebrow.

“I’m not so sure about that…” She was about to try and guide Robin back to the free sofa but paused, catching the movement of a certain boy in a princely outfit. Biting her lip, Sully met Robin’s cloudy eyes with her own slightly panicked ones. “On second thought? To hell with it. I’ll dance with you.” Sully couldn’t help but crack a smile at Robin’s jubilant reaction, being pulled into a sloppy dance routine that Olivia had just instructed her on. Laughing, the drunken half of the pair stumbled a bit too much on the last move they executed. Luckily Sully managed to catch her in time, playing it off by spinning her around in an almost waltz-like step. Robin’s already blurred vision became even hazier, her surroundings reducing to a mess of incoherent blobs of colour. Seizing the opportunity, Sully gave her a gentle push back in the direction of the sofa she came from, landing the girl squarely inbetween Jay and Stahl.

“Smooth moves out there, sis.” The vampire ruffled Robin’s hair, carefully removing her horns as she writhed around in her giggle fit.

“They were, weren’t they?” Robin grinned, barely managing to stop the world from spinning as she looked up at her brother. He gave her a tentative smile as he tried to gauge her state of mind. This was promptly answered for him as Robin tried to turn to address Stahl, somehow slipping on the sofa cushion and ending up with her face on his cardboard breastplate. Stahl looked like a deer in the headlights, glancing around wildly with a wide eyed, distressed expression. He locked eyes with Jay and made the universal ‘I don’t know what to do’ gesture with his arms.

“Uh… You okay there…?” Jay poked her shoulder, which began to convulse with another mad rush of giggles. The two boys breathed a sigh of relief as Robin moved back between them, covering her mouth in a sloppy attempt to hide her laughter. “For a moment there I was afraid we were going to have to start calling you the Dragon Slayer, Stahl.” The Finch grin emerged on Jay’s features, only made more obnoxious by his fangs. Robin started to laugh harder at the comment. Stahl’s face was becoming a steadily increasing shade of red the longer this scene went on.

“Youuu guuuuuys!” Robin’s laughter was broken by her euphoric slurs, pulling herself up enough to wrap an arm around both of the boys’ shoulders. She leaned her head on Jay’s and practically dragged Stahl with her, holding him to her like a child would their teddy bear. Sighing contentedly, Robin closed her eyes.

“It’s time for seven minutes in heaven! Anybody who wants to join in, gather ‘round the bottle!” ...And immediately opened them. She sprung to her feet at the sound of Lissa’s announcement, the two boys forgotten. Robin located the circle of teens sat on the floor on the other side of the room, the music turned down in favour of the party game. She quickly joined them, glancing around the other participants, ultimately resting her eyes on Chrom.

The boy, of course, looked as stunning as ever. Even with the thick layer of grey facepaint he was still gorgeous. A faint breeze swept the area – which was strange, because they were inside and no windows were open – and dramatically blew his cobalt hued hair. As if sensing her eyes on him, he turned his head in her direction, catching her gaze. The moment seemed to last for an eternity; the sounds of an angelic choir filled the room, and everything seemed to disappear apart from him. Chrom smiled, his teeth shining so unnaturally bright Robin had to physically shield her eyes. Did he get his teeth whitened earlier in the day or something?

“Alright, let’s get this started!” The angelic choir ceased as Lissa’s voice pulled Robin back to the situation at hand. Regaining her sight, Robin watched intently as the clear glass bottle began to spin on the soft, white carpet. She blinked, and suddenly the neck of the bottle pointed at Chrom. Dramatic gasps sounded out from around Robin.

Chrom shrugged, but she could see an excited smile begin to form on his angelic features. Lissa reached out to spin the bottle again. Just as she was about to pull her attention to it, Chrom looked up at her. He was… Blushing? Robin’s heart pounded loudly, pulling her gaze away. Did that mean he was hoping it would land on her? Was this _The Moment?_ As she turned, Robin spotted the intense glare of Cordelia. The redhead sat across from her, shaking her head. Robin couldn’t help but smirk in response. Sorry, Cordelia, no hard feelings but it looks like I’ve won.

She flicked her golden eyes to the still spinning bottle. The room sunk away from Robin’s vision – it was only her and the bottle now. It seemed to slow, each second filled with the sound of Robin’s heartbeat in her ears. This was it. The result of this bottle spin would dictate the rest of her life. Be kind, glass vodka bottle.

“Robin, looks like you’re with Chrom.” Lissa declared as it came to a stop, pointing directly at Robin. An uncontrollable grin pulled at the edges of her lips as she looked up at the boy now stood above her. He held a hand out to her, the breeze that filled the living room buffeting his blue locks as he smiled gently down at her. Cordelia immediately burst into violent sobs.

“N-no fair! How w-was I supposed to compete with _her_!” The redhead cried, mascara running down her face as she pointed at Robin. She took Chrom’s hand and rose to her feet, tossing Cordelia an immaculate laced handkerchief and trying to hide her grin.

“I’m sorry, Cordelia. Gaius – I trust you’ll take it from here?” Robin flicked her wrist to gesture to the ginger boy, who bowed and took Cordelia’s arm, pulling her into an embrace.

“I was hiding my true feelings until now, but because Robin has blessed unto me this wonderful opportunity, I can finally tell you,” Gaius looked deep into Cordelia’s eyes, wiping a tear from her cheek with a dramatic flourish. “I love you, Cordelia.” The redhead sobbed into his chest, collapsing into his arms.

“Oh, Gaius. It took me until right this moment to realise it, but… I love you too.” At the last word, the pair faded away in a burst of white apple blossom petals. Robin nodded approvingly to herself, turning to Chrom, now sat atop a snowy steed. The beast reared and let out a majestic whinny, long mane flowing in the wind.

“Coming, milady?” His deep voice echoed around her, deep cerulean eyes gazing at her longingly. Robin looked around them, clutching the skirt of the puffy white dress she now miraculously found herself in.

“But Chrom… What of the closet?” She glanced back up to him. Chrom laughed, shaking his head from side to side, then pulled her up onto the steed with him.

“We don’t need closets to express our love, Robin.” He gave her his most dashing smile, the heavens themselves parting in front of them to create a path made of clouds. With a single kick of his foot, the horse began galloping forward, across the puffy road. Robin’s body jerked back at the sudden movement, now finding herself pressed even more against Chrom.

Ever so gently, he placed fingers under her chin, pulling her face up to look at him. Their gazes locked immediately – the gentle radiance of Chrom’s eyes made them resemble sapphires, a sight that made Robin’s legs weak. He ran his hand up to cup her cheek, closing his eyes as he leaned ever closer to her. This was it. This was the moment. Chrom was going to _kiss_ her. Robin’s eyes flickered shut, craning her head up and awaiting the contact of his lips on hers.

…And she waited. For a few seconds to many. Robin’s brows furrowed, opening her eyes again and blinking in surprise at Chrom’s frozen expression. His eyes were wide, his mouth pulled back in a silent ‘O’. She frowned.

“Uh, Chrom, are you okay…?” As she voiced her question, his features relaxed back into his soft smile. Relief washed over her, but this was immediately interrupted by the high-pitched, girly shriek that started coming from Chrom. She put her hands to her ears immediately, the prolonged scream practically deafening.

“Chrom, what’s happening?!” Robin tried to shout over the sound of his screeching, the world around her crumbling from the light pastel tones into blackness.

_“The caaaaaaaaaaaaake!”_ Chrom’s mouth moved, but the voice that came out wasn’t his own. It was familiar. Robin narrowed her eyes, trying to remember. Everything in her vision was quickly fading away, the visage of Chrom blurring into an incoherent mass of blue. It sounded kind of like Maribelle…

“AH!” Robin shot up to a sitting position, breathing heavily as she looked around her, eyes pulled wide with fear. Her heart was pounding in her ears, but her vision was still blurred. Blinking furiously, Robin’s panic was interrupted by a hand on her shoulder and the calming voice of her brother.

“Woah there, calm down!” Jay’s tone was enough to bring her down a few notches. The tenseness faded from her shoulders as she turned to look on either side of her.

“Jay? Stahl?” She tripped over her voice as she spoke, clearing her throat of the saliva that had congealed there. The two boys sat next to her on the grey sofa. Robin glanced blankly between the pair, her vision coming back into focus.

“You’ve just been flat out asleep for like the past ten minutes, Robin. Neither of us could move - you were lying on me, and you had poor old Stahl locked in a sleepy death grip.” Jay motioned to Stahl, in the middle of rubbing his neck which previously had Robin’s arm slung around it. She flushed at the realisation. Stahl noticed this, offering her a small smile.

“You could say she had me in a _sleeper_ hold.” Stahl chuckled at his own joke. Jay stared at him, eyes narrowing.

“Oh, you’re _good._ ” He tapped a fang thoughtfully, presumably storing away that one for later. Robin shook her head. There was something more pressing than the boys’ banter.

“Guys, did you hear a scream just now? From Maribelle?” She shakily got to her feet, feeling two hands on her back reach up to support her. The boys rose with her, sharing concerned looks.

“Uh. Yeah. From the kitchen.” Stahl’s mouth was pulled in a straight line, a hand snaking sheepishly through his olive locks. Barely taking the time to register that the living room was now empty, Robin marched towards the door and quickly made her way down the hallway. She heard the exclamations of the two boys behind her as they began to follow her. Robin had to shoulder her way through the crowd that had gathered by the kitchen doorway, almost stumbling as she reached the front.

“Where is it?! So help me, Naga, whichever hooligan did this better come forward _right now_ or I’m calling my father!” Maribelle screeched, her face a mask of red hot fury. On the table, where the gorgeous cake once sat, was an empty dish. Nothing was left of the painstakingly made dessert except a few brown crumbs and a couple smudges of whipped cream.

“Seriously. Calm down.” The gruff voice of Sully spoke out, the girl stood near the front of the crowd with her jersey covered arms crossed. Maribelle turned on her, practically spitting flames.

“ _Calm down?!_ You seriously expect me to _calm down?!”_ She hissed, pointing her fan threateningly in her face. She went to retaliate, but Frederick caught her shoulder before she could advance. Huffing, Sully scowled, but backed down nonetheless.

“Sully’s right, Maribelle, maybe you should take a moment t-“ Chrom tried desperately to interject but the blonde whipped around to him.

“Your sister is _crying,_ Chrom.” She gestured to Lissa, who was trying to desperately collect herself by the kitchen cabinets. Even though the witch was making a conscious effort to maintain her optimistic and welcoming demeanour, it was made clear by the way she was holding onto Lon’qu’s fur covered arm that she was having difficulty, her face screwed up in an attempt to stop herself from crying. Lon’qu didn’t seem happy at the contact, but was otherwise unmoved. Chrom flinched away at the sight, hiding his altered yellow eyes under his blue bangs.

“Twinkles. For real. Chill.” Gaius stepped up to the bat, arms held in front of him to emphasise the slowness of his words. Maribelle paused, maroon eyes narrowing as she analysed the ginger boy’s movements. His eyebrows were raised, a look of genuine concern sitting uncharacteristically on his sharp features as he took a few steps towards her.

“ _You,”_ She spat the word out, the single syllable laced with more contempt than Robin had ever thought possible. Gaius looked taken aback at the reaction. Walking right upto him, she jabbed one of her petite bony fingers into his chest. He took a step back, shocked. “I bet _you_ were the one who took the cake in the first place! What, were you mad at me for making you clean up that mess you made? Or for not offering you more than one slice?” Gaius stared at her, incredulous. “I can understand why you may be upset with me, but it is utterly unfair – not to mention completely uncalled for – that you take this out on the rest of us!” She answered it for him, eyes dark with malice.

“Woah now, Twinkles! Don’t you think you’re jumping to conclusions a bit?” Gaius knocked her hand away from him, brows furrowing in a confused scowl.

“…You were upset when she tripped you.” The commanding voice of Frederick rumbled from the crowd, attracting everyone’s attention. Maribelle nodded, gesturing to the brunette.

“And we all know how much you love sweets.” Tharja added, biting the nail of her thumb as her finely pointed eyebrows dipped into a frown. Blinking, a brief flicker of panic flashed across Gaius’ face, realising that he was now being cornered.

“That’s true. I’ve seen you eat a whole apple pie in the space of a minute before!” Sumia laughed awkwardly, casting her gaze to her feet as she pulled on a lock of her brunette hair.

“What? No, no – you’ve got it all wrong!” Waving his arms around dismissively, Gaius cocked a lopsided smirk. A bead of sweat was starting to run down the side of his temple.

“You gotta admit, Chuckles. It kinda makes sense.” Sully mumbled, running a hand to the back of her neck.

“Truly, this is the work of the most nefarious of fiends! The motivation all lines up. What do you have to say in defence, villain?” With a flourish, Virion added to the conversation, pointing dramatically to Gaius. His scowl grew.

“You guys realise there’s no proof, right?” The ginger boy crossed his arms, calming a bit as he spoke.

“Candy wrapper.” The stoic figure of Lon’qu appeared next to the table, making Gaius jump. He pointed to the single, unmistakable sheet of pumpkin covered paper that could only be from a hard boiled candy. And it was sat right next to the cake dish.

“W-when would I have found the time t-to pull off this great cake heist, huh?! I’ve been with you guys in the living room the whole evening!” Gaius’ voice rose a pitch, genuine alarm pulling at his normally calm expression. His mouth had twitched into an uncomfortable smile, hands put up defensively in front of him. “Just ask Chrom! Right, buddy?” He walked over to the boy, clapping his hand on his back.

“…Uh, actually… You left to clean up the spill. Remember?” The blue haired boy’s voice was small, cracked. He didn’t look up at Gaius once. The smile on Gaius’ face faded into a hard line. Everyone was staring at him with accusing eyes. He looked around, his green eyes steeped in desperation, and tried to find someone who’d help him.

“Cordelia! You don’t believe any of this, right? You don’t think I did this!” Gaius rushed over to the redhead, grasping her shoulders, arms almost shaking. She met his panic stricken plea with unreadable, sharp red eyes. She stared at him for a few moments, then pointed to his shirt.

“You’ve got crumbs on you.” Cordelia’s voice was cool; cordial, like the way you’d address an acquaintance you barely knew. She carefully and slowly removed his hands from her shoulders, then brushed off the crumbs she’d pointed out. Gaius’ face could only be described as the look of a man who had lost all hope.

“That’s settled then. As punishment, you shall be hereby kicked out of this party. Anyone object?” Maribelle’s tone had calmed, but that unmistakable smugness was hidden behind the fan she waved in front of her face. Robin blinked. Were they for real? There was no way Gaius would do something so mean spirited… Right? She turned to look beside her and found Jay, almost trembling. One look at his enraged expression told her all she needed to know – there was no way Gaius did this. He glanced at her, their twin golden orbs meeting, and exchanged confident nods. Before either of them could say anything, though, someone else spoke up.

“I do.” Stahl raised his hand, voice level. Everyone turned to look at him, even the siblings. The surprise was palpable. But no one felt it more than Gaius, who practically fell to his knees at the wave of relief that overcame him.

“I agree. Gaius isn’t responsible for this.” The unwavering tone of Jay chipped in, pointed glare sweeping across those in the room who had condemned him. There was a fire in those eyes that Robin had only seen a handful of times before.

“Then who is?” Maribelle snorted, snapping her fan shut and putting her hands on her hips. The two boys who had spoken out looked at eachother, uncertain.

“Um… I’m not sure.” Stahl admitted, running a hand through his messy bedhead.

“Someone has to be! We can’t just let this slide.” The aristocrat fired back, tossing another venomous glance to Gaius, now smiling gratefully.

Robin frowned to herself, mind reeling. There was something off about all of this. Sure, all the evidence pointed to Gaius being responsible for this – but there was no way that could be true. The boy was a sweet loving scoundrel, sure, but he wouldn’t go this far. This was the guy who climbed in windows to talk about girls; the guy who visited early to make them pancakes - the guy who would risk pretty much anything to put a smile on someone else’s face. She slid her hands into her dress pockets, then froze.

“I’ll figure it out.” The whole room turned to look at her. Robin met their shocked expressions, her voice strong with a sense of assurance. Screw Jay – she was going to show him, and everyone else for that matter, just how good a sleuth Robin Finch is! She’d clear Gaius’ name, then everyone could go back to normal. She met the ginger boy’s face, and they exchanged the same cocky grin.

“…Fine. Robin, I expect you to have figured out the culprit by the end of the night. If you can’t find out who it is, then it’s safe to assume that it was Gaius all along. In the meantime, that boy is banned from the festivities.” Maribelle nodded primly, gently grabbing Lissa’s hand and leading the girl out of the room. Slowly but surely, the rest of the crowd dissipated, bleeding out into the hallway.

“G-good luck,” Olivia took a moment to offer Robin a smile, pausing by the doorway. “Do you n-need my help or…?” Robin laughed, shaking her head and pushing her through the door.

“No, it’s fine! Go have fun! I expect you to have twice as much for my sake, okay?” She leaned on the table.

“O-okay!” Olivia giggled, strands of her pink hair bouncing as she walked out of the room. This left Robin, Gaius, Stahl and her brother. Jay clasped a hand on her shoulder, expression hard.

“I’m counting on you, sis. I’ll keep Gaius company when you figure this all out…” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Glancing towards the other two boys – who were now talking to eachother with serious expressions – he leaned into her ear, whispering. “You know how important it is for us to look out for him. If this goes down badly… I don’t want to think what could happen.” He pulled away, a soft smile replacing the previously intense edge to his gaze. Robin nodded.

“I know.” She understood. Gaius didn’t have the most savoury reputation, and he didn’t exactly have any support system outside of school. If that failed, where could he go? After all, only she and Jay knew about his insecurities. Gaius himself walked over to her, slinging an arm around her shoulders as he grinned widely.

“Ha, trust you, Detective Squeak! Gotta thank you for coming to my rescue there. It was getting pretty hairy, huh? It’ll be fine though, I know you’ll be able to blow the lid off this whole thing!” He got her in a headlock, messing up her hair into countless silvery knots.

“Wha- hey, is this any way to treat your last hope?!” Robin laughed, pushing him off and trying to straighten herself out. Gaius shrugged, going quiet as he stared at her. She met his gaze, cocking an inquisitive eyebrow.

“…What convinced you this wasn’t me? I mean, they were right, all the signs say I’m the culprit.” His intonation was serious, green eyes flickering with hesitation. Sighing, Robin reached into her pocket. Gaius’ blinked in surprise as he looked at what she’d pulled out.

“You don’t like festive sweets, right? Taste gross. That piece of ‘evidence’ they got couldn’t have come from you,” Robin grinned, holding up the polka dot patterned candy he’d given her earlier in the evening. His face lit up at the sight, looking between the piece of confectionary and her. “And as for the alibi and motivation,” She unwrapped the sweet, popping it in her mouth as she pressed the wrapper into Gaius’ hand. “I can think of a couple other people who can provide that.” She winked at him, a confident smile quirked. Gaius stared at her, grin turning goofier by the second, and threw his arms around her, practically squeezing the breath out of her.

“Gods, Squeak, you seriously _are_ a lifesaver! Ha ha!” He laughed with a genuine sense of happiness. Briefly returning the hug, Robin broke away from him after a few seconds, patting his shoulder.

“You bet I am. Now go scurry along with my brother, I’ve got a case to crack.” She gestured to Jay, who returned the gesture with a smile. Gaius saluted her, then started walking away with the boy, his grin unflinching. Robin watched them go, his reaction renewing her confidence. She could do this. Gaius was practically family – there was no way she was going to let him down.

“So…” Stahl still stood next to Robin, looking down at her with expectant hazel eyes. Blinking, she met his gaze. She completely forgot he was still here.

“Something up, Stahl? You should probably get back to the party. They may have started playing spin the bottle already. Who knows, maybe you could end up getting lucky with a pretty girl!” Robin laughed hollowly, nudging him with her elbow. _Like Cordelia,_ she added silently. To be completely honest, a part of Robin was upset that she’d probably miss the game… That said, after the weird dream she had she wasn’t sure if she could face it. She shuddered at the memory. Stahl raised an eyebrow at her remark, calm smile skewed in mild puzzlement.

“So? Working to solve the case of a murder most _flour_ sounds way more fun to me.” He grinned, nudging her back at his awful joke. Despite probably being the third worst pun she’d heard of the evening, Robin laughed.

“Gods, you can help if you promise never to say that ever again.”

“Deal.” Stahl held out his hand, which Robin shook. Teaming up with Stahl couldn’t be a bad idea. After all, they made a pretty good duo when it came to getting the newspaper done. Robin nodded to herself, shaking off any sense of self-doubt she still held.

“Where are we doing now then, Sherlock?” Stahl’s mellow eyes shone with optimism, his classic lopsided grin spread across his face.

“First of all, Watson, we must establish our list of suspects. To do this we’re gonna have to think about who had the _opportunity_ to commit the crime.” Robin nodded to herself, speaking in as exaggerated an accent as possible, shoving her hands in her pockets and eventually pulling out her notebook. Despite not planning on writing an article about the evening, she had instinctively brought it with her anyway. What she appeared to lack, however, was a pen. Frowning, she used her spare hand to rummage deeper through her pockets.

“Ah, here.” Stahl stopped her, pulling out a black ballpoint pen from one of the pockets concealed behind his cardboard plating. Robin took it, resisting the urge to laugh. Looked like they’d both brought along their newspaper equipment. She flipped open to an empty page in her notebook, beginning to list every person in attendance.

“Alright, so, let’s cross off the people who definitely couldn’t have done it,” She unconsciously tapped her bottom lip with the back of the pen, frowning in thought. “That’d be me, Jay, Gaius, Maribelle, Lissa and you.” Robin began scribbling out the names.

“What makes you so sure I didn’t do it?” Stahl laughed nervously, running a hand to the back of his neck. Robin looked at him, an eyebrow raised. “…Well, you know my reputation with food. It’s just as bad as Gaius’.” He elaborated, meeting her gaze with an uncertain smile.

“That should be obvious,” Robin snorted. “You’re the first person who stood up for Gaius, even though Jay and I were going to anyway. If you’d done it, you would’ve just let him take the blame,” She finished crossing out the names, looking up at him and smiling. “Besides, you’re too nice of a guy to do something like that.” Stahl looked away at her last comment, ducking his eyes under his messy olive locks.

“Ha ha, yeah…” His laugh trailed off into an unusually tense silence. Robin stared at him for a few moments, but didn’t question it. This was no time to deal with Stahl’s mannerisms – she had a mystery to solve! She looked back to her list, still tapping her lip with the pen. In truth, she alone couldn’t make the full suspect list. She’d been asleep for a while after all. Glancing back at Stahl, she found he was now looking at her through a few strands of his hair. She smiled and pushed the pen and notebook into his hands.

“Can you scribble out all the people who definitely didn’t leave the room when I was asleep? Y’know, apart from Henry, Sumia, Sully and Lon’qu.” Those were the four people Robin recalled leaving when she was conscious. In a way it was lucky that no one came to talk to her, or that she couldn’t find a place next to Chrom – she was the only one who had a clear view of everyone in the room. Stahl blinked, cautiously taking them from her and glancing at the list. He stuck his tongue out in concentration as he began to cross them out.

“That would be… Let’s see, Tharja was silently glaring at everyone, Frederick was watching the food bowl, Olivia was dancing, Virion was trying to flirt with all the girls – and failing horribly – and Cordelia…” He trailed off, brows furrowed as he tried to remember. The way he ruminated on the redhead’s name made Robin slightly nervous. “Oh, she was on her phone.” Stahl nodded to himself, crossing off the final name and handing the notebook back to Robin.

“Alright, so that adds… Donnel to the list of suspects,” She flipped over the pages, writing each suspect at the top of one. Robin didn’t know much about the boy, but he didn’t seem the type to destroy a cake out of malice. Besides that, weren’t he and Maribelle a thing? She frowned. “You’re friends with him, right?”

“Mmhm. He’s a good kid. He left when you were sleeping to clear out the closet under the stairs for seven minutes in heaven.” Stahl nodded, gesturing to the closet in question, just visible from the kitchen doorway. Robin narrowed her eyes. That probably meant he was the last one to leave the room before Maribelle found the cake. The kitchen door was open too, right? Surely he would’ve seen something. Robin began walking to the hallway, heading to the living room.

“I think it’s time we take a look at our suspects.” As she stood in the doorway to the living room, she spotted Gaius and Jay sat on the stairs in the middle of a very obnoxious thumb wrestling competition. Biting back a laugh at the two’s antics, she entered the room.

Everything seemed the same as it was before the incident. It had a little less energy, sure, but everyone was still laughing and enjoying themselves. Apart from one person. Stepping more into the room to get a better view, she saw Maribelle with her head on Donnel’s shoulder, talking with a very depressed demeanour. The purple haired scarecrow didn’t seem bothered by this, smile as wide as ever as he presumably tried to cheer the girl up. Robin would consider the image sweet if it weren’t suspicious as all hell. Could it be that this was all planned by the humble country boy after all? Perhaps he got rid of the cake knowing how upset it would make Maribelle, and how it would inevitably drive her to seek a shoulder to cry on – namely his. Perhaps behind that humble, bright eyed exterior was a cunning and sly genius that had premeditated this evening step by step, all to get a few extra close moments with his aristocratic sweetheart. It was possible.

Maribelle spotted Robin and scowled, her face going crimson, then quickly looked away. Cake murderer or not, Robin would definitely be teasing the blonde about this in their next English lesson. Donnel noticed the girl’s reaction, his gaze being drawn to the figure of Robin, as well as Stahl who’d just appeared next to her. Before she could think of a way to start conversation, Stahl did it for her.

“Hey Donny! How’re you doing on that History report Miss Miriel gave us?” The olive haired boy addressed him cheerfully, walking over to the sofa where he sat.

“Aw, heck, don’t remind me! I ain’t even gotten past the title yet!” Donnel laughed, rubbing his neck in embarrassment. Stahl’s friendly demeanour didn’t waver.

“Ha, really? That’s fair enough. ‘Prince Marth’s Multi-Faceted Tactical Approaches to ensure the Complete Annihilation of the Dark Dragon’ is one heck of a title.” Stahl crossed his arms, nodding to himself. Donnel froze.

“Er… What? Oh gosh darn it, I thought it was about Ike!” The boy despaired, pulling on his hat. Robin frowned. How the heck could he get the two mixed up? Ike wasn’t even a prince.

“…Ike? Really?” Stahl echoed her thoughts, eyebrows raised as he laughed at Donnel’s mix-up.

“Yeah! Ike! Y’know, the fella with the ginger hair ‘n’ was only, like, fifteen or summin’ when he went on his big adventure.” Donnel continued, trying to explain himself. Robin and Stahl stared at him, incredulous. Even Maribelle sat up, fixing the boy a disbelieving look.

“Um. Donny. That’s Roy.” Stahl ran a hand to the back of his neck as he corrected him, a tinge of worry dashed across his face at Donnel’s complete lack of general knowledge. Robin shook her head. There was no way this boy was the evil genius she penned him as. Pulling up her notebook, she crossed out Donnel’s name. This left her with Lon’qu, Henry, Sumia and Sully.

“Donnel, darling, I think I need to explain to you a few things concerning this country’s history.” Maribelle began, rubbing her temples. Donnel looked at her in confusion. Before the aristocrat could begin her lecture, Stahl returned to Robin’s side, glancing down at her list of suspects.

“Well. That’s one down.” He laughed, glancing back over his shoulder to the scarecrow. Robin couldn’t help but smile to herself at the weird scene they’d just witnessed.

“Yeah, and four more to go.” She looked about the room, spotting the suspects in question. Honestly, out of the ones written down, she really couldn’t picture Lon’qu being the one behind this. The Feroxi sat on the carpet, arms and legs crossed, watching a struggling Lissa trying to entertain the guests. As it was, the only motivation Robin could think of was the way the blonde had been dragging him around all night, but even still he stayed by her side after they found out about the cake. That said, he was gone for quite a while during the one time he was apart from Lissa. He _was_ the one who pointed out the fake evidence, but that didn’t necessarily mean he was the one who planted it. Right? Scowling, Robin flipped to the page she’d designated to him, writing down her thoughts. Stahl stood silently, reading over her shoulder.

“Do you want me to go get him?” He glanced over to the boy, who looked as bored as he did a minute ago. Robin furrowed her brows. It didn’t feel necessary, but… Oh, heck, if she considered herself a good sleuth she had to get rid of any doubt with a suspect before she wrote them off.

“Yeah. We’ll interview him in the kitchen. I’ll start thinking up some questions.” She sighed, giving Stahl a tired smile as she walked out of the room. Lon’qu was going to be hard enough to interview, considering his aversion to women. She doubted she was going to be able to get much out of him. Wandering into the kitchen, she took a seat on the far side of the table, looking at the large empty dish.

There was no way someone could’ve eaten all of the cake. Robin doubted that even Stahl or Gaius could’ve done it. Or if they did, they’d have definitely been ill with the sickly amount of chocolate and cream that had been lopped on top of that dessert. That means that it had to be thrown away, right? She leaned back in her chair, glancing around the tiled room. It would’ve been a very messy affair. There must be some sort of traces left behind. Before Robin could rise to her feet to investigate further, Stahl walked in with Lon’qu in tow.

“I didn’t do it.” Lon’qu stated, bluntly. Robin met his deadpan tone with a polite smile, gesturing for him to sit down.

“Then you won’t mind if we ask you a few questions, right?” Robin tapped the pen on her notebook, watching Lon’qu slowly pull out a chair across from her and sitting down, arms crossed. Stahl took his own seat next to Robin. Taking the silence as a ‘yes’, she began. “You left the room with Lissa to get Virion, correct?” He nodded. “But after that, the both of them came back into the room without you.” Lon’qu nodded again. Silence. Robin wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, really.

“…Um, could you tell us where you went?” Stahl supplied for her, picking up on the hint of annoyance in her face. Lon’qu huffed.

“Bathroom.” His answer was simple, made sense, but was ultimately completely unverifiable. They stared at him.

“You were, uh. Gone for longer than a bathroom break.” Robin pressed on. She hadn’t even seen him come back in at all, now that she thought about it. Even Sully and the pair of Henry and Sumia were away for a shorter amount of time than him. Considering the amount of time it would’ve taken to get rid of the cake, he was actually beginning to seem a bit suspicious.

“So?” Lon’qu shrugged, stoic expression giving away nothing. He had to be lying. But why? What was he doing during that time he was gone? Robin began writing in the notebook, recording her thoughts.

“You were also the person who found the candy wrapper.” She added, glancing up from the page, eyes narrowed. Lon’qu blinked at her serious tone, but stayed otherwise unmoved.

“Yeah. It was on the side of the table nearest Lissa,” He responded evenly, still giving nothing away. “It was obvious. Aren’t you supposed to be the detective here?” This was beginning to frustrate Robin. If he really wasn’t behind all this, he sure wasn’t giving her any reason to believe him.

“Lon’qu, you’re really not making a convincing argument right now,” Stahl sounded a touch exasperated, leaning his elbows on the table as he slumped over it. This didn’t bother Lon’qu, judging from his nonchalant shrug. “Do you realise what’ll happen if we say you did this? Maribelle might take the opportunity to exile you from the group. You know she’s been out for you ever since Lissa started learning to skateboard.” Stahl sat up, meeting the Feroxi’s indifferent brown eyes with his own beseeching hazel ones. Lon’qu shifted a bit in his seat.

“Why should I care?” The boy looked away. Robin swore she heard his gruffness waver in those words. She exchanged a glance with Stahl, and by his raised eyebrows, she knew they had him cornered.

“Because you won’t be able to see Lissa anymore.” Robin grinned triumphantly at the boy’s pause. Even though he’d made a few other friends in the group, such as Vaike, he had the opportunity to see them in class. Lissa was another story – without a doubt, Maribelle would find a way to stop her from seeing the boy even outside of school. Regardless of the nature of Lon’qu’s feelings for the little blonde, it was clear they were close. His hesitation was all Robin needed to confirm that he wouldn’t do anything to hurt her, including messing up the cake she’d made.

“Fine,” He conceded, looking between the two of them, their smiles making him even more uncomfortable. Lon’qu’s face went bright red despite the sharpie’d whiskers. “I… Went upstairs… And…” Robin began writing his story down, watching his increasing amount of fidgeting. He sighed, scrunching his eyes shut. “…And went into Lissa’s room,” Robin and Stahl let out a simultaneous ‘aww’, which was met with an immediate look of murderous intent as Lon’qu snapped his eyes open. They both closed their mouths. “I-it’s not what you think.” He waved his paws about.

“What? That you invaded Lissa’s private space and stood around creepily for ten minutes?” Robin teased, the Finch grin appearing against her will. If looks could kill, she’d be dead in her seat.

“M-my bell was falling off, and she said there… Was a sewing kit in her room…” Lon’qu trailed off, looking to his lap, crimson face steeped in embarrassment. Unconsciously he rose his paw to bat at the bell around his neck.

“Alright, alright. We believe you.” Stahl snickered, turning his expectant gaze on Robin. She shrugged overdramatically and crossed out Lon’qu’s name in her notebook.

“Your name’s cleared, Lon’qu. You can go now. But be careful with that bell, yeah? We don’t want you to have to go back into her room again now do we?” She subtly fistbumped Stahl under the table.

“Thanks.” Lon’qu muttered under his breath. Avoiding eye contact with either of them, Lon’qu stood with a clatter and quickly exited the room, already on his way to pretending this never happened. As soon as they were sure he was out of earshot, Robin and Stahl started laughing.

“Oh my gods, his _face!_ ” Robin covered her mouth, but the giggles had already overtaken her.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cat blush so much!” Stahl leaned back in his chair, snickering and having to hold onto the table with one hand to stop himself from falling off.

“You know, he was being so quiet, you could say that…” Both of them locked gazes, laughter paused as the same stupid grin mirrored on both their faces.

“ _A cat got his tongue!”_ They started falling about themselves again. This carried on for a couple of minutes until the two of them managed to pull themselves together. Robin still found herself unable to stop smiling, but forced herself to stay focused on the matter at hand. Flipping over to the next suspect page in her notebook, Robin tapped the paper with the back of her pen.

“Alright. So. Henry and Sumia,” She turned to Stahl, lopsided grin quirked as he watched her. “What do we think?” Robin sat back in her seat, arms crossed as she waited for his feedback. Stahl hummed to himself in thought, leaning his arms on the table and resting his chin on them.

“Sumia wouldn’t hurt a fly,” He spoke confidently, but uncertainty swirled in the hazel depths hidden by his eyelashes. “Henry, however…” Trailing off, he glanced back to her. He didn’t have to finish the sentence for Robin to understand.

“Yeah, if Sumia was involved, she definitely wasn’t alone. She and Henry are close after all,” Robin sighed, writing down these thoughts on the page. “Maybe Henry was seeing how upset the whole witch costume thing made Sumia, so when they left after she got hit in the head by Sully’s cast they messed up the cake to make her feel better. She was a lot happier after she came back in, after all.” She frowned, absentmindedly doodling a picture of the cake as she spoke.

“Sumia was one of the people accusing Gaius.” Stahl noted, staring at the notebook. Robin nodded.

“You’re right. Regardless of whether she felt bad about doing it or not, she’d still cover up for Henry. Maybe she’s the one who thought about planting the wrapper… Sumia likes sweets right?” She glanced to him, eyebrows raised.

“Well, she’s in the Cooking Club. Whenever events come around she always makes sweet pies rather than savoury ones. So it’d be safe to assume she does.” Stahl sat up, running a hand through his messy hair, frowning. This wasn’t looking good for Henry and Sumia. Robin would hate to think that members of the newspaper team would ever do anything like this, but here they were – it all lined up.

“We better bring them in here.” Robin sighed, rubbing her temples. This was beginning to get a bit stressful. Stahl rose to his feet and stretched his arms.

“I’ll get them. You think of some questions to ask, alright?” He offered her a reassuring smile before he walked out of the room. Robin turned her attention back to her notebook. It was the same case as Lon’qu, really – they needed an alibi. But unlike Lon’qu these guys actually had more of a clear-cut motivation. It was very possible that they were the true perpetrators of this ordeal, as much as she hated to admit it. Only a minute or so passed before Stahl returned, Henry and Sumia following behind him.

“Heya Robin! Still on the case, huh?” Henry’s chipper tone was as upbeat as ever, unperturbed by the circumstances. He pulled out a seat for himself and Sumia, flopping down on the chair and grinning with unnatural enthusiasm. Sumia, who was far more subdued, sat next to him, looking between Robin and Stahl with a nervous disposition.

“Afraid so.” Robin quirked a hollow smile, not looking forward to this. Stahl returned to his seat and watched her carefully.

“Um… Do you think… We did it?” Sumia tentatively looked up, pulling on the badly sewn frills on her skirt. A mix of sincerity and nervousness culminated in her brown eyes, sparking a striking resemblance to a kicked puppy. Robin stared at her, mouth going dry.

“Well, we’re not one hundred percent sure of anything yet, ha ha. But we need to make sure, you know?” Stahl stepped in with a pleasant tone, acting like nothing was wrong. Robin glanced at him. Gods, he made this look so easy. Feeling her gaze on him, Stahl looked over to give her a reassuring smile. Sighing, Robin turned back to the pair they were questioning.

“Could you tell us where you went when you left the room?” She forced a friendly tone, which at least seemed to set Sumia a bit more at ease.

“Sumia freaked out and ran upstairs! She got pretty upset and locked herself in the bathroom,” Henry explained, kicking his feet under the table, grinning despite recounting such a harrowing moment. Sumia continued to stare at her lap. “So I talked through the door to her for a bit until she felt better! Then we came back downstairs.” He chirped, wearing the same jolly expression. Robin blinked. It seemed like a reasonable enough explanation.

“Alright, that makes sense.” Robin felt relieved, writing down Henry’s story. What was she thinking? This was Henry and Sumia! They were good kids – even if Henry was a bit weird. Okay, very weird, but not the cake murdering variety of weird. She clicked her pen, ready to dismiss them when she caught Stahl’s expression. His brows were furrowed, forming an intense scowl as he watched Sumia. Following his gaze, Robin saw Sumia fidgeting in her seat, refusing to make eye contact with anyone.

“…Sumia? Is Henry telling the truth?” The brunette froze at Stahl’s unusually hard tone. Henry’s smile stiffened.

“Um… He’s not _lying_ …” Sumia replied weakly, laughing nervously. Robin narrowed her eyes at this suspicious behaviour.

“Is there something you’re not telling us?” Robin pressed, leaning forward on the table. The pair exchanged an undecipherable look. She swore she saw Henry subtly shaking his head at the brunette. After a few moments of tense silence, Sumia turned back to Robin, a look of determination flashing in her deep brown eyes. Then she immediately broke down.

“I ruined Lissa’s favourite headband!” Sumia cried, burying her face in her hands out of shame. Henry sighed, smile still present, pulling his chair closer to hers and beginning to pat her back comfortingly. “I-it was just th-there on the w-windowsill and I was just s-so upset I just…” She sniffed, wiping her nose on her sleeve. “H-Henry said maybe I’d f-feel better if I b-broke something s-so I just… I just r-ripped it…” Henry pulled her into a hug, the girl still sobbing from recalling her heinous deed. Stahl and Robin didn’t even know how to react to this confession.

“If ya need proof, it should be buried somewhere in the washing basket. Nya ha ha, it was it was a pretty _tear_ rible thing!” The boy covered from head to toe in feathers laughed, his joke somehow eliciting a small, choked giggle from the distraught Sumia. Gods, Robin could think of plenty things more ‘tearrible’ than Sumia’s ‘crime’. That joke, for instance.

“…Right. Uh, I think you can go now. Thanks for answering our questions.” Robin chuckled awkwardly, unsure of how to respond to the scene she’d just witnessed.

“No problem! Good luck on your investigation, Detective Finch!” Henry’s jovial grin returned to grace his feathered features, helping pull the mostly recovered Sumia to her feet. The brunette gave the two a small, guilty smile as she walked out of the kitchen with Henry, presumably listening to more of his awful puns. Despite the weird scene she’d just witnessed, Robin felt relieved knowing that none of her club members had anything to do with the cake case. Even if they did destroy girls’ accessories in their spare time. Smiling to herself, Robin crossed off the two’s names from her notebook, turning the page and looking to Stahl.

“Isn’t this great? Sumia and Henry are innocent and we only have one suspect left, so that means it’s gotta be…” Robin trailed off from her excited tone when she saw his expression. He stared at her, one hand threaded through his hair, eyes thick with worry.

“Do you really think Sully did this?” His voice was sad. Robin blinked. Oh yeah, the two were childhood friends. She scowled thoughtfully, leaning her elbows on the table and glancing down at Sully’s page in her notebook.

“Her direct motivation’s a bit weak – since the only thing she could really be upset about was how Maribelle skipped Equestrian Club to make the cake – but before she left she was… Not in the best of moods…” Robin trailed off, glancing back to Stahl. He’d kept his eyes on her, still anxiously running his hand through his olive locks as he listened to her every word. Sighing, Robin slumped back in her chair. “You _know_ how notorious she is for blowing up, Stahl. She literally smacked Virion in the face with her crutch earlier. It’s pretty easy to picture her doing the same thing to a cake.” Stahl stayed quiet for a few moments, pulling his gaze to her notebook.

“Yeah… I suppose…” He rose to his feet, trying to get back to his normal happy, calm attitude. “I’ll just go get her then!” Stahl gave Robin an unconvincing smile and began the walk back out of the room, not waiting for her response. When he was out of sight, Robin frowned, desperately flicking through the pages of her notebook. Sully was the only suspect they had left, so if she didn’t do it, then who could it be? If she couldn’t pin it on someone, they were going to blame Gaius. He was her friend – there was no way Robin could let that happen. She glanced to the doorway, watching Stahl lead a very unhappy looking Sully in. But, just like Gaius was her friend, Sully was Stahl’s. Could she really condemn her?

“Lemme guess – you think I’m the one who did it,” The redhead spat at Robin, pulling out her chair with a clatter and sitting down on it unceremoniously. Robin couldn’t help but be surprised at her ferocity. “Bloody typical. Something got destroyed? Oh, it’s probably Sully. You know, the gal who has no personality features other than getting angry and beating people up.” Sully crossed her arms, glaring daggers at Robin as she growled.

“Sully, c’mon, you _know_ we don’t think of you like that.” Stahl tried to reason with her, his voice heavy with exasperation. Robin surmised this wasn’t the first time he had to talk her down.

“Yeah right, Stahl! You _know_ how they call me the bull, and you the panther – panthers aren’t exactly portrayed as raging hellbeasts that destroy everything in their path now, are they?” Sully leaned forward menacingly in their seat, bearing her teeth. Stahl looked at her evenly, not backing down.

“What does that have to do with anything? We’re not ‘they’, we’re your friends, Sully.”

“Would my _friends_ accuse me of something as stupid as this?” Sully stood up, spitting venom directly in Stahl’s face. A dark shadow of anger fell over Stahl’s expression.

“Well, can you prove us wrong?!” He stood up, knocking his chair over in the process and shouting at the redhead, pointing an accusing finger at her. Sully froze, shocked. Robin looked between the two, confused and afraid. A few moments of silence ensued, eventually followed by Sully resuming her seat, exhaling a deep breath.

“Alright. There’s no use in squabbling. I shouldn’t have, uh… You know. Sorry, Stahl.” She scratched her neck, dipping her head in apology.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I got a bit heated too. Sorry,” Stahl waved his arms around, smiling as he took his seat. Robin could only stare at him after seeing him angry. How could he calm down so quickly? “Alright then, now that’s out of the way, we should get to the questioning.” He turned to Robin, catching her staring at him. She awkwardly smiled then turned to face Sully, now looking at anywhere that wasn’t Stahl. Robin cleared her throat.

“So… Uh… Where did you go after you left the room?” She began gingerly, scared of a relapse into her rage from a minute ago. Sully rubbed her nose and leaned back in her chair.

“Took a breather outside. Went and sat on the steps outside the front door.” Sully gestured behind her, down the hallway. Robin frowned as she looked through the doorway, looking at the front door from where she sat. It wasn’t too far away from the living room. Wouldn’t she have heard the door open?

“Bit of a stressful evening, huh?” Stahl smiled sympathetically.

“You’ve no idea.” Sully scoffed, casting her crimson eyes over to him, eyebrows raised.

“Then tell us.” It almost sounded like a challenge. Robin glanced at Stahl, seeing the seriousness of his intent. He really wanted to believe Sully had nothing to do with this. Sully met his gaze for a few moments, about to say something, but looked away.

“None of your damn business.” She mumbled, avoiding all eye contact. This wasn’t looking good for her. Robin read over her notes: has a motivation, definitely capable, known for having a temper, unverifiable alibi… Even though the other suspect’s alibis couldn’t be one hundred percent confirmed, their earnestness was enough to convince Robin they weren’t lying. Sully, on the other hand, had been battling them the entire time she’d been here.

“Sully, come on. We’re trying to help you!” Stahl’s desperation was palpable, his tone pleading.

“I don’t want your stupid help!” Sully snapped, shooting to her feet, snarling. Stahl was about to reply when they heard the sound of something hard hitting the tiled floor. Blinking, Robin glanced over the table. Stahl stood, walking around to see the cause himself. The redhead froze in place, panic setting in on her fiery disposition. He paused when he saw the source. Slowly, he bent down and picked it up, showing it to Sully. He stared at her, not breaking eye contact even once as he spoke.

“Sully. What is this?” He held up a round candy, covered in a pumpkin patterned wrapper. Robin could only sit in stunned silence as she watched the exchange. The redhead fidgeted, trying to grab it back from him, but Stahl stepped out of the way before she could.

“It’s… I was just…” Sully tried to explain, the words getting caught in her throat.

“Just what?” Stahl’s voice was thick with disappointment. Their eyes locked – red on green – and Sully hung her head.

“It’s not what it looks like.”

“Then what _is_ it then?” Stahl placed the candy on the table, waiting for her response. But, before Sully could elaborate, shouts were heard from down the hallway. Robin looked up at the sound of Maribelle and Gaius’ voices. The three exchanged tense looks, but still exited the room together to see what was happening. At the foot of the stairs stood Maribelle and Gaius, arguing again. Jay sat on the bottom step, trying to diffuse the situation.

“For Naga’s sake, Gaius, just admit it already!”

“I _told_ you, Twinkles! I. Didn’t. Do it.” Gaius punctuated every word with a sharp hiss. The blonde glared at him with increasing malice.

“Then who did?”

“How am I supposed to know that?!”

“Woah, woah, guys,” Jay stepped in, putting one arm on their shoulders, trying to space them out a bit. “C’mon, this isn’t getting us anywhere.” More people began piling into the hallway from the living room to watch the display, eyes wide at the heated exchange. Stahl pushed through, trying to help.

“It’s okay, Maribelle, we’ll have this figured out soon.” He offered a reassuring smile. Robin followed after him, addressing the blonde.

“He’s right. We’re making good progress.” She nodded cheerfully, hoping she sounded convincing enough. Maribelle turned on the both of them.

“Ha! As if I’ll believe that! You two have spent over an hour running around and throwing accusations, and do you have anything to show for it?” Hissing, she took a step closer to the two, glaring pointedly at Robin. “What kind of journalist _are_ you?!” She jabbed her in the shoulder with her folded fan. Jay shot up, intervening immediately.

“Hey, that’s not fair! She’s trying!” He defended Robin, standing inbetween the two girls. Robin looked on, bewildered. Things were getting intense.

“Seriously! We _are_ making progress!” Robin contested over Jay’s shoulder. Everyone – even her brother and Gaius – looked at her sceptically. She frowned. “Don’t believe me? Fine, I’ll even get my notebook.” She huffed, shoving through the crowd, trying to ignore the estranged looks from Stahl and Sully. Sorry, guys, but she promised she’d help Gaius.

Robin finally made it to the kitchen, the room completely empty. It was quiet, save for the increasing volume of arguing coming from down the hallway. The sooner this was over, the better. She walked over to the table and grabbed her notebook, but was stopped by something peculiar. One of the cupboards was open slightly. Pulling it, she found that it wasn’t a traditional cupboard – it was one of those ones that folded open to reveal a bin. Now that she thought about it, it _was_ strange how the room didn’t appear to have a trash can of any sort. Damn, she should’ve looked for one, maybe she’d have found clues to where the cake went. Drawing her attention back to the bin, she noticed something: there wasn’t a trash bag inside it. Scowling, she put her notebook down to further investigate. 

Sure enough, it was empty. Weird, considering the amount of trash they were going to have to clean up after the party. She closed it, about to grab her notebook again when she noticed a further peculiarity. Kneeling down, Robin ran her left thumb over a grey smudge on the white cupboard. She almost jumped out of her skin when she heard a loud crash of thunder over the house. Talk about perfect Halloween weather. Rising back to her feet, Robin stared at the grey on her thumb, standing next to the garden door. The shade seemed familiar, somehow. A flash of light came from the outside, followed by another rumble. Robin froze. Through the frosted glass of the door, she saw a figure lit up from the lightning. Even though the flash had faded, she still saw something, moving. Someone was out there.

For the briefest of moments Robin contemplated running away, but her curiosity urged her on. In an instant she found her hand on the doorhandle, pushing it open to the buffeting wind and rain outside. She stepped out onto the soaked stone patio. Along with the howling of the wind and the violent pattering of the rain she heard the distinctly unique sound of a shovel pushing through dirt. Robin took a few steps forward, finding herself moving from the sturdy stone of the patio onto the squishy grass of the garden. Another flash of lightning struck, and Robin could see the figure clearly.

“Chrom?” Her voice was barely audible over the rumble of thunder that swept the sky. The boy looked up from his shovel, cobalt blue hair drenched and matted to his face. The amber contact lenses he wore were pulled wide in alarm. On one side of him was a shallow hole in the soil, with a pile of dirt next to it. On the other side was a tied up black trash bag, slick from the rain.

“…H-hey Robin, what are you doing here?” Chrom laughed awkwardly, leaning on the handle of his shovel. “Shouldn’t you be, uh, solving the whole cake thing…?” His voice creaked with panic. She could only stare at him, taking a few steps closer as she examined the boy. He froze up, their two pairs of golden eyes meeting. Robin lifted up her right hand and ran her thumb across his cheek, pulling it back to compare it to her other one. Both of her thumbs were covered in the same grey face paint Chrom was wearing.

“I just did.” The lightning cracked overhead as she met his gaze once more, voice hard and levelled. He stared at her, features pulled back panic. Robin turned away from him, taking a few steps to the plastic bin bag. Leaning down, she undid the knot that held it closed, opening it to reveal a large mess of brown sponge, cream and jam. She stood, looking back to him. He’d dropped the shovel and was now just staring at her, face tinted with guilt. All the pieces fit into place – Robin finally understood what had happened.

“You were mad about Lissa bossing you around all night, and about how Maribelle was acting like she was the one in charge all the time despite it being your home,” Robin began her explanation. “After all, Lissa decided your costume for you and took charge of pretty much all the activities. Maribelle kept ordering everyone around and souring the mood as well. Must be a frustrating thing to see, considering you’re supposed to be the host. You were scared they were ruining the party, right?” She took a few steps closer to him as she talked. Gods, how had Robin forgotten to write him on the suspect list? She just never expected Chrom to do something like this. He must’ve left when she’d been passed out. “So to get back at them – and hopefully get them to chill out for the rest of the night – you ruined the cake. You snuck out into the kitchen and tipped the whole thing into the bin in the cupboard, where no one would think to look for it. But you knew there was a chance they’d figure you out. So, to stop that from happening, you brought a candy wrapper with you and planted it at the crime scene. You’re close with Gaius, so you knew everyone would suspect him right away and deflect suspicion from yourself. Then, seeing how tense the situation was getting, you snuck out just now when Gaius and Maribelle were arguing to hide the final piece of evidence. But you overlooked one fatal thing – me.” Robin stopped right in front of him, grinning triumphantly. He met it with a shake of his head.

“Uh, that’s not what happened.” He scratched his neck. Robin blinked at him.

“What.” It was the perfect explanation, wasn’t it? Chrom sighed and put his hands in his pockets, giving her a guilty smile.

“I went into the kitchen to get some more candy since we’d ran out, but I saw the cake and… I just couldn’t wait any longer for some, y’know?” He laughed out of embarrassment. “So I, er, figured just a taste of the cream couldn’t hurt. But I kinda… Miscalculated… And it ended up on the floor. _But_ luckily I had a mop at hand!” He gestured to the hole he’d been in the middle of digging, a half-submerged filthy mop at the bottom. Robin stared at him. “So I cleaned it all up and put the rest of the cake in the bin before anybody could come find me! Then when I went looking for more of the Halloween candy I only found one piece, so I guess I ate it and forgot to throw away the wrapper. Ah, then I went back to the living room and pretended like nothing had happened. Then as you said, I got kinda scared you were going to find the mess of cake and realise Gaius hadn’t eaten it, so… Figured I’d bury it now..?” He shrugged, face red with humiliation despite the now dripping face paint. Robin sighed. That was the most anticlimactic explanation she’d ever heard. Gods, she was crushing on a dork.

“Then why did you let Gaius take the fall?” She whined, running her hands through her soaked hair. There _had_ to be some juicy and dramatic reason he heaped the blame on his friend.

“I was going to say something, but I kinda wussed out. Things kind of spiralled out of hand.” Chrom scratched his arm, the guilty smile returning. Robin couldn’t _believe_ this. All this work for such a lame pay-off! She sighed again, beginning to walk back to the house, glancing over her shoulder to look at Chrom.

“I’m sorry, Chrom, but I’m gonna have to tell everyone.” She went to turn back to the door but felt something pull on her arm. She whipped around and found herself face to face with Chrom, her breath catching in her throat. From this close up she could see the faint cerulean hue of his irises behind the coloured contacts.

“ _Please_ , Robin, I’m begging you…! Lissa and Maribelle will _kill_ me if they find out what I did!” His deep voice resounded through her bones, her heart kicking into overdrive. Despite the chill that had set in from the constant buffeting of the rain, Robin could feel the warmth of his breath on her face as clear as day. She became painfully aware that if she moved an inch closer she could be kissing him.

“I…” Robin began, her voice failing her the moment she remembered he was holding her arm. His grip was so gentle, but had a firmness that kept her rooted in her spot. Or maybe that’s just because she didn’t want to move away from him.

“Robin…!” He begged, squeezing her arm lightly, urging her to agree. Robin’s heart skipped a beat, finding herself unable to look away from the softness of his expression. She wanted nothing more in that moment than to see him smile for her.

If she didn’t tell anyone, it could be her and Chrom’s first secret. It was exciting, the prospect of knowing something about him that no one else did. There was something strangely intimate about it. Who knows, maybe he’d express his gratitude for her in a kiss? …Okay it was unlikely, but there was a chance. Robin couldn’t help but crack a smile at the thought, but it instantly disappeared as she remembered the ramifications. She _couldn’t_ let Gaius be the scapegoat for this. He was her friend. Jay and Robin were supposed to look after the little ginger haired scamp, she couldn’t betray him like that.

Robin squeezed her eyes shut. Then again, she could blame it on Sully. After all, she was the most suspicious character around at the moment. Robin was pretty sure even Stahl thought she was guilty at this point. But… Stahl… Could she do that to him? Sully was one of his best friends, right? They’d known eachother since they were kids. Consciously condemning her like that, even though she knew it wasn’t her… Gods, Stahl would be so upset. Sully didn’t deserve that either. She was a good and loyal girl, underneath her fiery and stubborn exterior. Robin couldn’t condemn someone like that for the sake of her own feelings. Sighing, she reopened her eyes, meeting Chrom’s pleading gaze again.

“Chrom, I’m sorry, I would, but… You know I can’t.” Robin pulled her arm from his grip, instantly missing the warmth his hand provided her. He stared at her then nodded, looking at his feet.

“Yeah… Yeah, I know. Sorry for pressuring you like that,” He laughed hollowly, looking back up at her with a smile that made her heart melt. “Alright then, I’d better get this over with.” Chrom nudged her lightly then began walking back to the house. Robin felt her breath catch in her throat at the physical contact, then quickly hurried after him. That was one mystery solved at least.

* * *

“…And that’s what happened.” Chrom finished his explanation to the party goers, ducking his head as he reached the end. They all stood in the kitchen, staring at the blue haired boy as they took time to process the story he told them. Robin stood next to him, arms crossed, watching the reactions. Nobody seemed particularly angry or upset.

“There we go then. I think you guys all owe Gaius an apology,” Jay was the first to speak up, clapping a hand on Gaius’ back. The room erupted in a simultaneous ‘sorry’, a gesture that brought a smile to Gaius’ face. “You too, Maribelle.” Jay raised an eyebrow and turned to the blonde, her arms crossed. She glanced around the room, clearly annoyed, but sighed and turned to face the ginger haired boy.

“I’m… Terribly sorry for blaming you for this, Gaius. It was uncalled for, and I was wrong.” She added the last bit through gritted teeth, avoiding eye contact. This was enough for Gaius, however, as the boy grinned and patted her shoulder.

“It’s fine Twinkles. Water under the bridge,” He slipped his hands in his pockets, clearly pleased with the outcome. “Kinda sucks I don’t get any cake though.” The boy added, frowning. Maribelle narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, moving past some of the guests to check in one of the cupboards. She silently surveyed the contents then turned back to everyone.

“We could make another one, actually. Lissa darling went a bit overboard and bought more ingredients than she needed to,” Maribelle gestured to the bouncy blonde, who shrugged overdramatically. The room lit up with excitement. “…You can have two slices this time, Gaius.” Maribelle smiled kindly at the boy who was now elated at the prospect of cake.

“I’ll help make it.” Chrom piped up from his spot, a look of relief clear on his smudged grey face. Turns out that Maribelle and Lissa wouldn’t kill him after all. Maribelle paused, reluctant, but Lissa bounced up and took Chrom by the arm, pulling him over to the pile of ingredients.

“Sure! It’ll be fun! Anybody else wanna help?” She turned to the rest of the room, beaming. Lon’qu sighed and begrudgingly stepped forward, along with a good majority of the other guests. There were a few minutes of chaotic planning, but eventually everyone started to work together to make another cake for their party.

Robin smiled at the sight, but still stepped out of the room. She was too exhausted from her investigation to help out. Besides, she wasn’t any good at cooking anyway. Before getting too far she spotted Stahl and Sully near the living room doorway, talking.

“So what were those sweets about then?” Stahl pressed, his voice back to its usual calm state. One look at his face told Robin that the stress he’d been experiencing over the past hour had now completely dissipated. Sully sighed, putting her hands into her pockets and pulling out two pieces of the Halloween themed sweets.

“They were the only two left. I figured I’d… I’d give them to Virion and Sumia. To apologise. For, uh, you know.” She stared at the candies, scowling. Stahl snickered, attracting an angry glare from the redhead.

“You’ve gone soft, Sully.”

“Shut up.” The girl growled, stalking off with a face as red as her hair. She passed by Robin and gave her a grateful smile, then entered into the kitchen, presumably to give out those sweets. Stahl followed the girl’s path, smiling as he spotted Robin.

“What a result, huh? I didn’t picture Chrom as the clumsy, bumbling type of zombie. Looks like you’ve picked quite the guy.” He walked upto her, unable to hide the mischievous tone of his teasing.

“Hey, the heart wants what the heart wants! He may eat brains, but he’s also incredibly handsome,” Robin laughed, glancing over her shoulder to see the figure of the zombie in question. He didn’t look much like one anymore though, since the majority of his grey paint had now dripped off. “Yeah… I think I picked a good guy.” She nodded to herself, casting a lingering look to the boy as he laughed at some joke Gaius and Jay made. She turned back to Stahl, now unable to shake off her goofy grin.

“Mm. Yeah.” He agreed, glancing to the boy in question. For the slightest of moments Robin swore she saw a flicker of a frown on his face. Trying to ignore it, Robin piped up again.

“Seriously though, thanks for your help this evening. I mean, it was weird and kind of stupid, but it was a lot of fun.” She grinned, lightly punching the cardboard plating on his arm. Stahl’s eyes moved back to her, his usual lopsided grin returning.

“Yeah, it was! Maybe we should form our own detective duo. We can go around solving loads of bakery related crimes.” The pair laughed at the thought. It’d make an interesting newspaper segment, that’s for sure. Their joking was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell, the sound reverberating throughout the hallway. Seeing as how most of the people were busy in the kitchen, Robin shrugged and walked towards the door. Stahl watched from his position in the hallway. Opening the door, Robin froze as she came face to face with a man in a police uniform.

“Um… Can I help you…?” Robin squeaked, immediately wary of this appearance. The police officer nodded and reached to pull something out of his pocket.

“You can. We’re here looking for a boy called Henry Peck,” He pulled out a picture of a boy with white hair and a creepy grin. Robin gulped. “We have reason to believe that he is behind the case of a stolen pig from the farm outside of town.” Robin paused, looking behind her. A few of the people from the kitchen had wandered out, all stopping in place and staring at the police officer. Slowly, they turned to look at Henry, stood in the kitchen doorway and covered in flour.

“Henry, you said the blood was fake!” Sumia yelped, covering her mouth. Henry nodded enthusiastically.

“Yeah! Fake _human_ blood, like Chrom asked for!” He agreed. Behind him, the blue haired boy sighed heavily. “Besides, it’s not from a pig from the farm outside of town. I had nothing to do with that,” Henry reassured the officer with his flour covered hands. Everyone seemed to relax at this. The boy grinned. “It’s from a pig that Donnel gave me!” Lissa looked to the bucket of ‘fake human blood’ in the hallway and screamed.

_“Henry, what the hell?!”_ Lissa fell back, barely being caught by Chrom and Lon’qu. Henry shrugged overdramatically.

“Looks like someone squealed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part is so, so long and so, so stupid but I love every word of it. Honestly, I was considering splitting this into two parts... But where's the fun in that? But if you're finding it too long then you're pretty much safe to skip this one if you want, since there's no 'real' plot. Except for relationship developments, that is.  
> Oh well, at least you guys can always come back to the complete and utter silliness of this chapter whenever you get bogged down by the angst in this fanfic to make yourselves feel better xD YOU'RE ALL WELCOME.  
> The meaning of this title refers to removing something from public record (like killing a cake???) but honestly I just chose it as the title for this part because it was the spookiest newspaper term I could find. It also accidentally parallels with 'On The Beat', which is ironic considering that's the angstiest chapter so far and this is the stupidest.  
> OH WELL. Now we can move onto the next arc - EVERYBODY GET HYPED FOR THE JAY ARC WOO


	15. Scene One: Equilibrium

Robin’s desk was an unsalvageable mess of books, papers and worn out stationary that had seen far more use than it had any right to. The girl sat on the edge of her uncomfortable plastic chair, leaning over her chaotic workspace as she searched for a functioning pen. It took her about three tries before she finally found one that produced ink for more than one spiralled scribble. Allowing herself a small victorious smirk, Robin got back to her writing.

With all the anarchy that occurred in the week revolving around Halloween preparation, she’d found no time to do any of her actual school work. Which was worrying considering she hadn’t already been doing particularly well in any of her subjects. Media was okay until they got to the actual work, she was utterly terrible at Business studies, she’d no idea what half the movements were in Sociology and, of course, her English teacher hated her. But still, in classic Robin fashion, she’d left all her homework until last minute. She meant to do it earlier, but she’d ended up procrastinating for the entirety of Sunday until she suddenly found that it was dark out and she had ten pages worth of essays to write. The first day of November was not being kind to her.

Managing to write a single badly worded paragraph about Marxist rants on the bourgeoisie, Robin clicked her tongue in annoyance as her pen ran out again. She held up her piece of paper, narrowing her eyes, trying to see if she could get away with the bare minimum amount of effort. Shrugging, she replaced the paper on the desk. She accepted that she was never going to get a grade above a C.

“Man, your dedication to your school work is truly a sight to behold. Maybe I could learn a thing or two from you.” The sarcastic coo of Jay’s voice drifted to Robin’s ears. Leaning back and lying her head upside down on the top of her chair, she saw her brother leaning in her open doorway. He wore that insufferably playful grin as he watched her ‘work’.

“Maybe I’ll drop in and see you from time to time. Then I could learn something about being a nerdy loser.” She grinned, watching Jay gasp dramatically and clutch his chest in shock.

“You _wound_ me, dear sister.” He feigned hurt, wiping away a non-existent tear as he casually sauntered over to her, glancing around her room. Robin tried to ignore him and turned back to her essay, attempting to remember what a proletariat was. Out of the corner of her vision she spotted him eyeing the newest edition to her framed photo collection. Picking up the silver piece, he stared at the smiling visages of the Newspaper Club members. Olivia had taken the photo a week before and handed them out to everyone, all to varying degrees of glee (though Tharja was a little _too_ happy about it) so naturally Robin had to display it. It felt like they’d made their own little family. Albeit, a _very_ dysfunctional one.

“I actually didn’t come in here to lecture you about your work ethic.” Jay glanced at her, still holding the frame. Losing her focus once more, Robin turned around on her chair to face him, eyebrows raised expectantly. Wordlessly, he handed her a flier. She angled her desk lamp so she could read it.

_‘Ylisstol Film Competition!_

_Open for any person between the ages of 16 and 19. Represent your school by making your own short film! Compete against rivalling schools for the chance to win a prize of 1,000 gold and an opportunity to get a place in Ylisstol’s Film Academy! Entries must be submitted before December and must be made entirely by students. Good luck!’_

A giddy sense of excitement overcame Robin as she looked up at her brother, grin already wide across her face. Jay met it with his own ecstatic smile, eyes sparkling with an untamed spark of enthusiasm. This was it. This was the opportunity he’d been waiting for since they were kids. Robin was already elated and anxious after just seeing the flyer, and she wasn’t even the one entering.

“This is really happening, huh?” She glanced between him and scrap of paper in her hands, taking a moment to let it all sink in.

“Yep,” Jay’s grin finally broke out, voice tumultuous. “And I’d like you to help me write it.” He gestured widely to the newspaper clippings and awards she’d hung on her walls. Robin raised her eyebrows, unable to hide her surprise at his suggestion.

“Really? Me? You know I’m not one for story writing,” She laughed, but she knew he was serious. Jay nodded. It’s not like she could ever say no to that face anyway. “Fine, fine. Leave it to me.”

“I knew I could count on you.” Jay laughed, ruffling her hair. Robin tried to fight him off with the flyer but failed miserably. He backed off and replaced the photo frame on her windowsill, wandering around her room and looking at her other pictures. She watched him as she tried to organise her hair.

“Any idea what kind of story you wanna do?” Robin swivelled around on her seat to keep her eyes on him, worried he’d stumble on something private. She didn’t feel willing to explain to him why she still kept all of her Taguel plushies in her bottom drawer.

“I was thinking a romantic tragedy.” Jay casually leafed through her scrapbook of newspaper articles from her old school. Robin raised her eyebrows, trying to stop herself from smirking at the peculiar choice.

“Really? That’s… Not what I was expecting.”

“Simple and relatable is best way to go for this sort of thing,” Jay nodded to himself, closing the scrapbook. His glasses reflected the light of the desk lamp as he turned to her. “Besides. I’m a big fan of West Side Story.” He grinned. Robin snorted at that, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, well, don’t expect any musical numbers. I’ll see what I can do.” Robin leaned back in her chair, arms crossed as she ruminated on this. Despite being a self-proclaimed expert on the art of love, she hadn’t the first idea of how to write a romance story. Probably because she was good at writing things based on real life, which is an issue considering she’d never been in a relationship. Tragedy, however… She sighed, scowling to herself. This was going to be difficult. But, she’d find a way. This was for Jay, after all.

“Hey… Uh, some other schools are going to be entering,” Her brother’s voice started up again, more unsure this time. Robin looked over, finding him with another of her framed photographs in his hands. She recognised it instantly as her class photo from her last year at Plegia. “Do you… Have any idea who’ll be entering from Plegia?” He drew his twin golden orbs over to her, a flash of doubt sharpening the harsh shadows of his face. Robin put a finger to her chin thoughtfully.

She didn’t really like to think about her time at Plegia, especially the people there. To be honest, she didn’t know most of them very well as it was. Still, she urged herself to remember. The kind of person who would sign up for this… They’d probably be the person who directed the stage plays in school. One year Robin auditioned for the school play during the phase where she had a crush on Owain (which was very short-lived), since he was the only one who actually cared about being in the spotlight. She squeezed her eyes shut. Who directed that?

“Lucina!” Robin’s eyes snapped open, proud of herself for remembering. That’s right, the blue haired girl had taken charge of pretty much anything directorial related. The girl was a natural born leader; everyone did as she asked and she made sure they all knew what they were doing, inspiring morale whenever she could. Lucina probably hated her too. Robin’s shoulders sagged a bit at that thought. However she was immediately distracted by the loud breaking of glass behind her. She whipped around in her seat, panicked, but found only Jay and the broken mess of her class photo on the floor. He stared wide-eyed at her, mouth agape.

“L-Lucina…? Are you sure…?” Jay’s voice was quiet and uncertain, lacking the usual self-assured playful tone it carried. Robin regarded him suspiciously, staring hard at his face. Her wariness was dispelled, however, when she noticed his cheeks were tinged with pink. Unable to stop the Cheshire cat grin that now dominated her features, Robin could only try to stop herself from giggling at her brother’s embarrassment.

“You don’t have a problem with her, do you?” She picked up her worn out pen and started nonchalantly spinning it between her fingers. “Or do you still have that crush on her from all those years ago?” She glanced back at him, golden irises shining with mischief. Jay tried to play off his now increasing blush by leaning down to pick up the pieces frame he just broke.

“I dunno.” He shrugged, trying to act coy. Robin saw through him straight away.

“Oh my gods you totally do!” She laughed, getting to her feet and walking over to him.

“Robin. Please.” Jay sighed after noticing the grin she wore. It wasn’t often she got a chance to tease him like this, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity. Kneeling down next to him, Robin started poking the boy’s face.

“Aww you’re such a sweetie! Crush on the same girl all this time? No wonder you always begged to come along to parents’ evenings and school shows,” Robin laughed more at the growing crimson hue that decorated the boy’s cheeks. He just kept his head down and picked up more of the broken pieces of glass, trying to avoid any form of eye contact. “Hey! At least you have the opportunity to impress her now, right?” That made him pause.

“Robin, I think you actually just said something encouraging.” Jay looked up at her, still as red as a tomato, but smiled. Robin scoffed, picking up the last of the broken pieces of frame debris and getting to her feet.

“Uh, of course. You’re my brother,” She shuffled all the shards of wood and glass into one hand, pulling Jay up from the floor with the other. They locked eyes, both pairs of golden pools fortified with the same steely quality: resolve. This just gave Robin even more reason to put her all into supporting her brother. Clapping a hand on his back, she gave him the classic Finch grin. “Let’s show everyone what Jay Finch can do!”

* * *

They were fifty minutes in to their first lesson of English and Robin had gotten enough salt from Mrs. Phila to fill the Pacific Ocean. This resulted from a combination of two factors: first of all, the teacher had only needed to take one look at Robin’s homework to know that she’d done it that very morning - mostly because of the hastened scribbles, and partially because of the globule of dried porridge that got stuck to the corner. Secondly, she had to give back the results of their paired assignments today, and – thanks to the miracle of Ricken’s mind – Robin had gotten 100% on it. Mrs. Phila had now left the classroom, presumably to find some medieval torture device to subjugate Robin to.

“Woah. I didn’t think numbers above 60 even existed.” Stahl stared incredulously at Robin’s score, eyes wide in wonderment at this impossible achievement. Robin puffed out her chest, leaning back in her chair and nodding condescendingly.

“When you’re as smart as me, Stahl, you’ll think that numbers _below_ 60 don’t exist.” She laughed obnoxiously, fanning herself with the highly scored piece of paper. Stahl raised his eyebrows.

“Your partner did all the work, didn’t they?” He grinned, leaning one elbow on the table as he watched her freeze up.

“…He may have done… More than his fair share of work,” Robin admitted, nose raised indignantly. He started laughing at her terrible attempt to cover up her laziness. Sighing, Robin gave up the act. “Alright, alright, Ricken did all of it. I was _going_ to help, but he insisted on doing it on his own.” She put her face down on the table, hoping the cold of the plastic surface would take away the warm shame that curdled in her cheeks.

“Ha, I knew you were as underwhelming as me.” Stahl nudged her arm playfully. Sitting back up, Robin met the boy’s pleasant smile with a tired eye roll. Still, she couldn’t help but smile right back at him.

“Hey, I’m just mediocre at schoolwork! Don’t go lumping me in with a boring guy like you.” She punched his arm lightly in response, but the impish lilt in her voice took the bite out of her words. Stahl just shrugged, unbothered by the comment.

“That’s why I’m the second in command. Who better to save you from your crazy schemes?” He produced his usual lazy lopsided grin, rubbing the freckles across his nose as he considered her with his tranquil hazel eyes. Robin was about to fire back another friendly retort but paused. That’s right, he _was_ her second in command. Her gaze trailed awkwardly to her lap.

“Oh, er, speaking of which…” Robin cleared her throat, smile skewed by her unease. “Is there any chance you could, uh, take over the club for me this lunchtime…?” She cautioned a look at his face.

“Sure. But it’s gonna be really busy today, considering we’re getting that new printer and scanner installed in the office,” Stahl regarded her with a steady but still pleasant disposition, laughing as Robin hissed at the mention of the new piece of equipment they acquired. She still held an intense distaste for technological aid in the creation of the newspaper, but Libra needed it to refine his weekly comic. It couldn’t be helped, she supposed. “So… Mind if I ask why I need to cover for you?” Stahl retained eye contact with her as he asked his question.

“I need to go to Film Club to help Jay out with a story and script for his short film,” She leaned back in her chair as she explained. “But he wants it to be a love story type thing, which I’m. Uh. Not too experienced in. So I figured that maybe going along would give me some ideas.” Robin grinned earnestly, looking back to Stahl. For a moment his expression took on that unreadably enigmatic quality that Robin couldn’t decipher, but then it was gone in the blink of an eye, replaced by his calm smile.

“Ah, I understand. Gaius and Chrom go there, right? They’ll probably be able to help you out with that.” Stahl affirmed. He nodded at her, cowlick bouncing. Robin took a moment to evaluate him. Had she just imagined that look? She shrugged it off, shaking the image from her mind.

“That’s what I’m hoping for.” Robin confessed, pulling on a strand of her silver hair. It was just a happy coincidence that she’d get to spend lunchtime with Chrom. This script was her real priority… It just so happened that Chrom also has a good wealth of knowledge on sappy romance movies. No ulterior motives here whatsoever.

“You’re going to see Gaius lunchtime?” The pair’s attention was drawn to the sound of a sharp, well enunciated question that could only have originated from Maribelle. Robin turned around, leaning an arm on the back of her chair. The blonde’s finely pointed eyebrows were raised in a show of aloofness, but the way she tapped her fingernails on her book convinced Robin that something was worrying her.

“Yes?” Robin began cautiously, trying to analyse the girl. As if sensing her judgement, Maribelle drew her maroon eyes to the piece of work in front of her. Her glossed lips were pulled taut.

“Something up, Maribelle?” Stahl added after the blonde stayed quiet. She cringed at the question, regret hollowing out the space underneath her eyes, obviously wishing she hadn’t said anything.

“I… Yes, actually,” Maribelle conceded, sighing as she looked up at the two. Any show of defensiveness dissolved as soon as she locked her gaze with Robin’s, eyes wide and pleading. “I feel awful about that party.” Rubbing her face, Maribelle leaned back in her seat. Regret laced every one of her syllables.

“You want to make it up to Gaius then.” Robin guessed, leaning more on the back of her chair. She couldn’t help but let a small smile slip past at the reveal that Maribelle wasn’t, in fact, an unfeeling robot. It was simultaneously the biggest relief and let-down of the year. Maribelle nodded, gaze resigned to the table in front of her, corkscrew curls falling in front of her face.

Robin looked over to Stahl, finding his brows knit in thought. She ruminated on the Halloween party. It had been a chaotic night, that’s for sure, and probably one of the less pleasant events Gaius had attended. But, knowing the ginger haired boy, Maribelle’s transgressions probably didn’t bother him that much. He’d grown a thicker skin than most, so accusations like that wouldn’t faze him. Still, it was rather unfair of the blonde to push him around as much as she did, so Robin was happy to see she wanted to make it up to him. But what could she do?

“Invite Gaius to help out with the Equestrian Club!” Robin beamed, almost falling forward onto the desk because of how much she was leaning on her chair. The thing Gaius would want more than anything else would be an opportunity to see Cordelia more often, so this seemed like a perfect solution. He more than likely wouldn’t be too happy to spend time around the horse that had bucked him into a window, but hey, he’ll take what he’s given. Maribelle looked up at her, one eyebrow raised quizzically.

“…He’d like that?” The blonde inquired, clearly apprehensive of the suggestion. Robin nodded, almost falling off her chair again at the enthusiastic movement. 

“I’m not sure about this.” Robin looked to Stahl at his hesitant tone. They locked gazes immediately; her bright and hopeful gold meeting his unusually clouded and doubtful green. He was frowning, the space between his eyebrows tense and creased. Robin could only stare at him, taken off guard by his sudden ambivalence. This would be good for Gaius – it’d give him a much needed opportunity to talk to the girl he liked. There was no reason for him to think it was a bad idea. Robin was about to voice this thought when another one struck her.

Unless he doesn’t want Gaius to get closer to Cordelia.

A weight dropped in her gut, her insides writhing like a river of snakes. It was entirely possible Stahl had a thing for the redheaded perfectionist. After all, she had seen them enter together in the Halloween party, _and_ there was that weird look they shared when they went to convince Cordelia to re-join the group. Robin bit her tongue, her resolve strengthening. She didn’t care: Robin had promised to help Gaius out with his crush, Stahl would have to find someone else. She tore her eyes away from his, turning to Maribelle with inappropriate ferocity.

“Don’t listen to him, this is a good idea. Gaius will love it.” Robin practically barked at the girl. Maribelle took a moment to stare at her, disquieted by her assertiveness, but shrugged it off, beginning to pack her books away.

“I’ll take your word for it.” The bell for second lesson sounded as soon as Maribelle replied, causing the classroom to erupt into a clutter of chaos as everyone began grabbing their bags. Robin turned to face the front, shoving her things into her lilac messenger bag before she could be stopped by Stahl (or Mrs. Phila). Quickly, and with the grace of a capsized tortoise, Robin clambered from her seat and threw her bag over her shoulder, being swept away in the sea of teenagers without so much as sparing a glance for her olive haired friend. She felt agitated, her stomach still twitching in the aftermath of her realisation, but she had no idea why.

“Robin!” She’d gotten halfway down the hallway before she was stopped by a voice calling her name. As opposed to familiar mellow drawl of Stahl, however, this one was more of a high-pitched squeak. Robin recognised it immediately.

“Hey, Ricken! You were right about that 100% thing after all. I owe you big time.” She turned around, having to angle her head lower. The boy looked up at her, grinning, oversized teal beanie still covering up his mess of auburn hair.

“I _told_ you I was good.” Ricken huffed, but he did a bad job of hiding the smirk curling at the side of his lip. Robin rolled her eyes, glancing over the boy’s head to the steady stream of people leaving their classroom. Stahl would be the last one out, knowing him. An early onset of guilt had already began to claw at her chest. She’d only walked out without talking to him, damn it, this wasn’t worth getting upset over.

“You sure showed me.” Robin laughed weakly, running up a hand to scratch the back of her neck.

“Hey, so, I was wondering… Are you gonna be at the newspaper office today?” Ricken inquired, tone quieter than usual. Robin’s gaze was still fixed behind the boy.

“No. I’ll be there tomorrow though. Why, do you want something?” She quickly glanced down to him before flicking her eyes back to the door, now seeing the olive haired figure walk out. Ricken looked down at his feet, moving his weight from one foot to the other.

“Uh… No?” His answer was so unconvincing it came out as another question. Finally settling her gaze on Ricken for longer than a few seconds, Robin raised her eyebrows. The young boy instantly got flustered. “I-I’ll drop by tomorrow!” He sputtered, face red, and then began power walking past her as he clutched some books to his chest. Robin followed his figure, trying not to question his weird behaviour. Her attention was then pulled away by the sound of someone clearing their throat. She found Stahl standing a few feet away, looking at her expectantly.

“See you tomorrow lunchtime?” He quirked a small, comforting smile that settled the serpents in her stomach. Taking a moment to collect herself and bury whatever weird feelings this conjured up, Robin smiled back at him.

“See you tomorrow lunchtime.” She echoed, voice firmer. The crease in Stahl’s brow dissipated. Raising his hand in a small wave, the boy began to lazily stroll down the hallway in the opposite direction she was headed. She felt kind of bad about leaving him to deal with the club alone, as well as for getting so upset with him for literally no reason. Maybe she should just go to the newspaper office lunchtime anyway to write the script from there to make it up to him.

Robin watched Stahl walk away for a few moments and then turned around, shaking her head. She needed to stop worrying about these petty things. She had Jay’s future in her hands – he was her top priority above all else. Robin couldn’t risk botching this up. That’s right, she had to trust Stahl so she could do this for her brother – she had to put Jay’s needs above her own for the time being. She was only writing a script, anyway. As soon as she’s done everything can just go back to normal.

* * *

“…And that’s the most effective way to implement a Dutch angle.” Jay had been droning on about filming techniques for the past twenty minutes, but Robin was still no closer to figuring out what the story of his film would be. She sat in the empty back row of the plastic chairs he’d set up, scribbling furiously in her notebook, surrounded by scrunched up balls of paper. All the other club members listened intently to her brother’s lectures, taking their own notes as they’d presumably be called on to help Jay direct his film. It had her brother’s name attached to it, but it was still the school’s entry.

Robin sighed, dropping her notebook in the empty chair next to her. Her brain was hurting from all of the thinking. It was no use. She’d encountered the worst thing any journalist or aspiring author could think of: writer’s block. Except instead of a block it was more like a fifty foot tall wrought iron wall that had no doors or footholds. Lamenting her failure as a sister, Robin leaned back in her chair and squeezed her eyes closed.

A tragic love story that could be told in the space of twenty minutes. It needed to be unique, simple, and stylistic all at the same time with a lot of room for Jay to exercise his film-making muscles. That probably meant that piling on dialogue wasn’t too great of an idea. But that said, this is a _love_ story – how else are you supposed to build a relationship between two characters? And moreover, how do you make it tragic? The audience needs to get invested in the characters in such a short amount of time. Ugh, she had no idea what she was doing.

“You okay there?” Robin opened her eyes to find the welcoming face of Chrom in front of her. He smiled as she looked at him, a sight that instantly made her cheeks heat up.

“U-uh yes. Yes. Totally okay. Of course I’m okay! Is this the face of someone who’s not okay?” Robin laughed awkwardly, sitting up and waving her arms around spastically, words tumbling out before she had a chance to think them over. The blue haired boy had sat in the chair in front of her, turning around to address her. He seemed oblivious to her strange behaviour.

“If you say so,” Chrom offered her another of his dashing smiles, about to turn back around before he noticed all the crumpled pieces of paper surrounding her. He leaned down to pick up the one nearest him, unfolding it, cerulean eyes scanning over one of Robin’s many failures. If it were anyone else she would’ve snatched it from him before he had a chance to read it, but just being in his proximity made Robin’s muscles lock up. She could only stare at him. Having finished looking at the piece of paper, Chrom’s attention snapped to Robin, making her flinch. “You’re writing the story?” An earnest sparkle twinkled in his deep blue eyes, transforming them into the most remarkable sapphires Robin had ever seen. She swallowed, feeling her heart hammer in her chest.

“Yes,” She answered simply, trying to stop herself from bursting into another bout of nervous laughter. “But as you can see, I’m not uh… Doing too good a job.” Robin ducked her head, pulling her notebook back to her lap and fiddling with the corner of one of the dog-eared pages.

“I’ll help,” It was more of a statement than a request. Robin looked back up at Chrom’s voice, being met with the same kind smile. The boy stood, moving the surrounding chairs away with his foot and turning his own seat around to face hers. She stared at him as he sat back down, looking at her expectantly. “It’s a love story, right? I know a lot about those.” He prompted, crossing one leg over the other, smiling self-assuredly. Robin stared at him dumbly for a few more moments before she finally snapped out of her stupor, opening up her notebook.

“Uh, yeah! Romantic tragedy, to be precise.” Retrieving her pen, Robin sat up, prepared to start writing again.

“Tragedy, huh?” Chrom hummed thoughtfully, narrowing his eyes. Robin twiddled her pen in her fingers, trying to stop herself from grinning like an idiot. This was exactly what Robin was hoping to happen, and here she was, being helped by the resident cheesy romance movie buff himself. It just so happened he was also the really hot guy Robin was crushing on. Reaching a conclusion to his line of thought, Chrom flicked his attention back to her. “What would you say is the most tragic quality someone could have if you had a crush on them?” Robin frowned, tapping the pen on her notebook. She’d had a lot of tragic crushes, sure, but the most poignant ones had one thing in common.

“If they’re out of your reach.” She replied, looking away. It was a bit too on-the-nose for her current situation too, she realised. Chrom was a foot or so away from her physically, but emotionally he was a million miles away. Or so it felt, anyway.

“Ah, good one! Like Romeo and Juliet. Doesn’t matter about the character’s feelings, there’s some other circumstance keeping them apart.” Chrom praised her, nodding to himself. Well, that wasn’t exactly what she meant, but sure. Robin glanced back to him and managed a small smile at his reaction.

“But… How do we get that across in twenty minutes?” She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, writing a few words in her notebook.

“We’ll have to get the difference between the two main characters across quickly,” Chrom glanced over his shoulder, seeing that Jay had now moved on to lecturing about framing. Robin took this opportunity to drink in Chrom’s appearance.  As per usual, the boy was sleeveless, exposing his toned arms. Trailing her eyes upwards, Robin drew her attention to his chiselled jawline, made even more prominent at the angle he was facing away from her. He was only a foot or so away from her. She could totally just reach out and touch him, maybe just get a squeeze or two of his muscles. Robin’s face went red at the thought. “Oh! We could make it so one of the characters wasn’t human. That’d get the point across immediately.” Chrom turned back to her, smiling brightly, but paused as he saw the crimson hue of her face. Robin immediately shoved her face into her notebook, writing furiously.

“N-not human! Got it!” She tripped over her words, tongue tied up in knots. Chrom didn’t press on her reaction, instead just retaining the same blithe smile and continuing his thought.

“Jay likes fantasy things, so we could change one of the mains to be some other kind of humanoid creature,” He crossed his arms, nodding to himself. Robin glanced over the top of her notebook at him, one eyebrow raised. Chrom caught her inquisitive gaze and added examples, trying to be helpful. “Yeah! Like in _‘Warm Bodies’_ or _‘Twilight’_ ,” Robin stared at him, trying not to laugh at his embarrassing wealth of knowledge of media aimed at teenage girls. Chrom went bright red as he realised these implications. “N-not that I would know!” He laughed awkwardly and over-exaggeratedly, hands on his hips, looking anywhere that wasn’t her. Robin bit her lip to stop herself from giggling.

“So what fantastical creature could we use?” Robin relaxed after seeing Chrom flustered, lowering her notebook from in front of her face. The red faced boy glanced back at her, calming slightly as she changed the subject.

“Vampires, werewolves and zombies are a bit overused.” He commented, rubbing his chin as he contemplated. Robin bit the end of her pen.

“We could have a fairy… Or, like, an angel? Demon?” She shrugged. “None of them really scream tragedy though.” Robin sighed, resting her pen on the notebook.

“How about…” Chrom glanced around the room for any suggestions, looking at the various movie posters splayed across the walls. He stopped on one of them, eyes going wide as he leaned forward to shake Robin’s shoulder, pointing at the poster and grinning widely. “Mermaids! One of them could be a mermaid!” He exclaimed, voice ecstatic. Robin looked at the poster of _‘The Little Mermaid’_ he so energetically pointed at, her own grin springing to life.

“Of course! The other one could, like, find them stranded on a beach or something.” She began writing down their suggestions as they chattered in excitement, ideas flowing thick and fast.

“Yeah, yeah! They could be sick, so the other person starts looking after them and they fall for eachother.” Chrom nodded, beaming at their success.

“But at the end they have to part ways since the mermaid inevitably has to go back to their home under the sea.”

“So, to stop them from being apart, the non-mermaid drowns themselves so they can be together!” Robin stopped writing at the gruesome suggestion, looking up to Chrom with wide eyes. Chrom’s smile froze, realising he’d said something weird.

“…Gods, that is _morbid._ ” She started laughing, writing it down. Chrom’s smile returned to normal at her reaction, pulling away the hand he’d had on her shoulder to sheepishly scratch his arm.

“Yeah, well… It’s supposed to be tragic, right? Love makes you do stupid things.” Chrom shrugged. Robin suddenly missed the warmth on her shoulder, her heart kicking back into overdrive as she realised Chrom had just _touched_ her. Again. For, like, the third time. She glanced at him, finding his gaze preoccupied elsewhere, but she could clearly see the red in his cheeks.

Wait. Had he meant something by that? Was he talking about her? _Was this happening?!_ Robin’s mouth went dry at the thought, already drowning in possibilities. Sure, she could just be overthinking it, but what if she was right? Chrom had a habit of getting flustered around her sometimes and letting a compliment slip out – a sure-fire sign that he’s nervous. It was entirely feasible that he really _did_ like her, and that’s why he got so embarrassed around her. After all, why else would he do that? She wasn’t exactly intimidating, or the type that would inspire someone to get star-struck by her presence. A giddy smile twitched at the edge of her lips.

“Thank you, Chrom.” She finally said, somehow managing to keep her voice from cracking. He looked over to her and offered a small, humble grin.

“No problem.” At this angle, with the fluorescent lights of the classroom beating down on him, Chrom looked half a god. His cobalt hair shone with an ethereal sheen, honest blue eyes sparkling as he met Robin’s own. Then he gave her a dorky thumbs up, and the image was ruined, bringing her back to the reality of the classroom. As if to further pull her from her dreamland, the bell to signal for the end of lunch tolled.

“You’ll be coming by again for lunch tomorrow, right? I’d like to see the finished script you whip up.” Chrom got to his feet, turning his chair back around. Robin blinked and rose, grabbing her bag and meeting his hopeful question with a firm nod.

“Sure. It’s the least I can do to thank you for your help.” She unzipped her bag, carefully placing her notebook and pen back inside. His chair returned to its rightful place, Chrom offered Robin another one of his dazzling smiles.

“I look forward to it.” Robin’s heart jumped a mile. And with that, the blue haired boy walked away and out of the room. She could only stare after him, raising a hand to touch her cheek. Her face was on fire. With a giddy grin, Robin took some shaky steps to follow after him, feeling as though she’d fallen into another one of her dreams. This _was_ real. She sighed, leaning on the doorframe and managing to catch the back of Chrom’s retreating figure on the very edge of her vision.

For the most fleeting of moments, Robin felt like everything was finally going well for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys you better buckle yourselves in because this is going to be one hell of a ride.  
> For those of you who felt the Ominous Implications at the end of this part, you may recognise it as a more meaningful echo of a certain event that occurred in chapter 4. See, I can try to be good at writing sometimes xD Key word being sometimes.  
> AS FOR THE JAY SHIP, I was considering other alternatives (most notably Olivia for the longest time) but I settled on Lucina for two reasons: 1) The in-game ship is my favourite for male Robin and 2) I have plans for Olivia. Plans that will be put into motion soon.  
> And if you hadn't guessed already, today's title has nothing to do with newspapers or publishing at all. In fact, none of the Jay arc does. Instead it focuses on narrative sections split into scenes (since Jay's all about films and, well, he's making one) and to start with we have the 'equilibrium' - the start of the narrative where everything is fine and dandy. Which. Isn't going to last for long xD I WARNED YOU GUYS ABOUT THE JAY ARC I REALLY DID.


	16. Scene Two: Disequilibrium

The realisation that Robin had promised two separate people that she’d spend Tuesday lunchtime with them hit her as soon as she got home from school. In an attempt to run and hide from the crushing guilt this incurred she spent the entire evening working on the script for Jay’s film, burying herself to the point where she forgot about anything that didn’t revolve around mermaids or tragic love stories. Despite not being the healthiest of methods, Robin at least managed to get the script done that night, which was immediately followed by a deep, stress-induced sleep to avoid thinking about her current situation.

Robin woke up to the sound of the extremely obnoxious pop song she’d set as her phone alarm. Blinking away the granules of sleep that clung to her eyelids, she rolled onto her side and fumbled for her phone, smacking the touch screen wildly before the sound stopped. Moving onto her back, Robin took a moment to drink in the first few seconds of the day. Her glow-in-the-dark stars stared down at her, their illumination dimming in the faint morning light. The fact they still gave out any glow at all at this time was a sign that winter would soon be upon them.

With an overdramatic sigh, Robin dragged herself out from the warm safety of her duvet, embracing the unforgiving bite of the morning chill. She tottered over to her desk, flinching as the soles of her feet made contact with the cold floorboards. Sat right in the middle, surrounded by the endless clutter, was the completed story frame and script. She carefully picked up the pile of unstapled pages, proudly holding them out in front of her.

Robin would be the first to admit that she’s not the best at writing fictional stories – her strengths laid in the realm of realism, after all – but even she thought she’d done a good job with this one. Taking the general points her and Chrom thought up, Robin managed to weave a stylistic interpretation of the classic mermaid story, leaving enough space for Jay to use his cinematographic magic while also getting the plot across concisely. She worked really hard for her brother. He’d done so much for her over the past couple of years; it was only right for Robin to try and pay him back for it.

Tucking the papers under her arm, Robin made her way out of her bedroom and down the stairs, her pastel purple nightgown swishing around her knees on her descent. Surprised to see the kitchen light on, she walked into the room to find Jay already awake. He looked up at her entrance, sat at the dining table with a cup of tea in his hand.

“Morning sis.” He yawned, pulling off his glasses to rub his eyes. His short silver hair was a bigger mess than usual. Robin stifled a laugh, pulling up the chair across from him.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty. Usually you don’t wake up for another half an hour.” She placed her papers on the table and crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back in her chair. Jay met her quip with a tired smile, replacing his glasses back on his face.

“I woke myself up about an hour ago and couldn’t get back to sleep. Heh, just excited about making my film I guess.” He looked down to the table in front of him. Robin followed his gaze and noticed the plethora of film-making books and magazines splayed across the surface, all with copious amounts of multi-coloured sticky notes poking out of the pages. A grin snuck up on her face as she saw them. Jay really was working hard.

“Speaking of your film,” With a flourish, Robin picked up her papers and plopped them in front of him, almost spilling his cup of tea in the process. “Guess who finished writing the script!” She leaned forward on the table, resting her chin on her arms as she looked at him expectantly, eyes sparkling. He cocked an eyebrow to her and flicked through the pages, a smirk upturning the side of his lips.

“Great work, as to be expected from my talented little sister,” Jay’s smirk turned into a full-blown Finch grin, leaning over his pile of research to ruffle her hair. Robin laughed, her silvery locks already messy from having just woken up ten minutes ago, and relished the feeling of happiness she got from knowing she’d helped her brother. He sat back down, golden eyes ablaze with excitement. “Now I can get the screenplay done by Friday and get the roles cast at lunchtime today, which means we should be able to start filming by the weekend!” Despite the bags under his eyes and the wonkiness of his glasses, Jay looked more alive than Robin had seen him in a long time.

“Wait,” She paused, rewinding what she’d just heard. “You’re casting today? Already?” He blinked, looking up from the script to give her a nod.

“You heard right.” He twiddled a pencil in his bony fingers, an impish sparkle flickering in those golden globes.

“But… I just finished writing the script last night!”

“I knew you’d get it done,” Jay intervened, attracting an even more confused expression from Robin. She waited for him to continue, cocking her head to one side and scowling. “What? You’re my sister. You can be a bit lazy but you always put your all into something you care about.” The familiar skritch of led on paper filled the silence after his words as Jay began writing some notes on the script she’d given him. Feeling a bit bashful at the amount of praise he was heaping on her this morning, Robin smiled to herself and looked to her lap. She supposed he was right – she didn’t really try or put any effort into most things, but when it came to the newspaper, or Jay, she’d happily spend blood, sweat and tears to make it work out. Robin cringed internally as the thought of the newspaper came to mind.

“So… The casting process…” Robin began uncertainly, remembering the current lunchtime dilemma she found herself in. It’d be nice to spend more time with Chrom, sure, but she did promise Stahl first. That, and the newspaper was _her_ responsibility over anyone else’s. Normally that’d be at the top of her priorities, but… She looked up, meeting Jay’s raised eyebrows as he awaited for her to finish her thought. “Do you need me to come help?” She finished. The newspaper was important, but Jay meant more to Robin than anything else.

“I’d really appreciate it if you could.” Jay smiled warmly, evidently grateful at the offer. Robin nodded back at him, her decision made. She’d just have to tell Stahl. Pulling out her phone, she entered her password, locating Stahl’s smiling contact and tapping out a text to him.

_‘Hey, Stahl! Sorry to be a pain, but could you cover for me at the Newspaper Club again today? I have to help Jay out at lunchtime. I promise I’ll drop in whenever I can!’_

She pressed the send button, relaxing back into her seat. It helped alleviate the guilt that rested on her shoulders by knowing that she’d be helping her brother, as opposed to just seeing the boy she crushed on for her own selfish reasons. Knowing Stahl, however, she wasn’t going to see his response for another few hours, considering his track record for oversleeping. Robin was putting him under some strain – which she really regretted – but the boy could handle it. He _was_ second in command for a reason.

“So, got anyone in mind for your film?” Robin leaned forward on the table, allowing herself to calm down now that her problem had been solved. Jay flicked his eyes up from her script.

“I’ve no idea who I want to play the mermaid. The guy, on the other hand, I already have picked out,” He cast her a mischievous wink, back to spinning his pencil around in his fingers. Robin stared at him, attention caught by how he’d already decided this crucial element before even knowing the story. Reading her face, Jay provided the name. “Chrom’s going to be playing the leading man, of course.”

“…Chrom?” Robin echoed. Jay nodded, turning to the script once more but keeping a golden eye trained on her to see her reaction.

“Yep. After your little talk yesterday he wouldn’t stop bugging me to play the lead. Makes a pretty good fit, too, _and_ he’s a good actor. Seemed pretty excited about it.” His voice was practically a purr, a grin of immense satisfaction emerging as Robin’s eyes got increasingly bigger. She shot up to her feet, slamming her hands on the table.

“Jay, I need to play the mermai-“

“No chance, Robin.” Jay waved a dismissive hand at her, not even letting her finish her sentence. Pouting, she sat back down, shoulders slumping at her harsh rejection.

“Why not?”

“Because you can’t act.” He answered simply. Robin gasped at his bluntness.

“Ex _cuse_ me, I can act _just_ fine thank you very-“

“Six years ago, that school play your year was putting on. The one where you played a sheep.” Jay met Robin’s disappointed gaze, pointing the sharpened head of the pencil at her as he recounted the tale.

“So? Most of us played animals.” She shrugged, failing to see his point. Jay’s mouth hardened for a moment before it pulled into an incredulous grin.

“Sheep don’t go _moo_ , Robin!” He laughed and shook his head. Robin’s face coloured indignantly, crossing her arms and looking elsewhere in an attempt to try and hide her shame.

“I was a very confused sheep who didn’t like conforming to your pre-existing species expectations.”

“You were an eleven year-old who forgot her one and only line!” He held his stomach, laughter echoing off the sleek tiling of the room. A couple of tears leaked down his cheeks as his glasses struggled to hold onto their place on his nose. Robin sunk down into her chair, so low her butt was almost off the seat. There was nothing she could say to redeem herself. As if to save her from this embarrassing situation, her phone vibrated in her nightgown pocket. Ignoring the still hysterical amusement of her brother, she unlocked the darkened screen to find she’d gotten a reply from Stahl. Robin blinked, seeing her eyes go wide in her phone’s reflection. Weird. It was only twenty-past seven. She could’ve sworn the boy only gained consciousness a few minutes before school started. Basking in the rarity of the moment, Robin pulled his message on screen.

_'Ha ha, it's fine! I'll take care of the club, no problem, so don't worry! We were actually thinking about meeting up after school today to work at the office too since we’re pretty busy, so you can come by then if you want!’_

A smile spilled out over her features before Robin could stop it. She had been worrying about nothing, as per usual. Stahl could handle the club without her help, as he did the day before, and he had no reason to get mad at her. It’s not like she was blowing him off for no reason. Robin looked up from her phone to see Jay staring at her, studying her smile as his eyebrows rose increasingly close to his hairline. The red returned to Robin’s cheeks.

“Wh-what?” She sputtered out the question - not a promising start.

“Who’re you texting?” The amusement flickered back in his eyes, evidently not done teasing her for the morning, his gaze never leaving her face even as she tried to hide it under her silver bangs.

“I-it’s just Stahl!”

“Oh, _just_ Stahl, is it? What kind of sweet nothings must he be sending to get my little sister to light up like that?” Purely on instinct Robin managed to snatch away her phone out of Jay’s reach just in time. Many years of experiencing her brother pry into her private life had sharpened her reflexes to a fine point, unfortunately the same did not apply for keeping her blush under control. Robin could already feel the heat radiating off her face at what he was implying. Jay’s grin grew almost predatory, her flustered reaction like bait on a hook.

“Jay, I swear to Naga, if you so much as _touch_ my phone…!” She began backing away, clutching the mobile to her chest with her arms wrapped over it defensively. He stood, mirroring her steps, trying to act nonchalant as he advanced.

“Oh now that _is_ suspicious. An innocent person wouldn’t have anything to hide.”

“I d-don’t! I just don’t like you snooping through my personal stuff!” Robin squeaked as she felt her back hit against a wall. Any possible path either side of her was blocked by various furnishings and cabinets, leaving her no route for escape. Jay tutted, coming to the realisation that she was trapped at the same time as her.

“I’m your big brother – it’s my _job_ to snoop around your personal stuff. How else am I supposed to find material to tease you with?” He stopped a few feet in front of her, holding out his open hand. “Now c’mon. Give me the phone and we can continue on with our morning.” Robin adamantly shook her head at his request.

“You don’t even know the password.”

“Eight four three seven six. The same number for the serial code that won you that special edition Hello Taguel plush toy.” Shoot. He knew too much. Robin glanced about, using her skills of keen perception and problem solving to try and find a way out of this. They failed her, however, so Robin opted for trying to barge past him – an endeavour that ended as soon as it started. Jay managed to grab her in a headlock the moment she brushed past him, tickling her sides to get her to weaken her grip on her phone.

“L-let go of me!” She laughed, tears straining the sides of her eyes as she struggled against his grip. Her brother wasn’t very strong – a baby rabbit probably had more muscle than him – but it was still enough to overpower Robin’s own baby duckling strength.

“ _Give me your secrets!”_ He was just about to finally grab the phone from her weakened hands when the door opened, pulling both of the siblings’ attention away from their current wrestling match.

“Sup Bubbles ‘n’ Squeak,” Gaius straight up strolled in through the front door, closing it behind him with his foot. He glanced around and spotted the two, raising a single ginger eyebrow as he spun around a key on his finger. “I don’t mean to interrupt your weird bonding exercise but we have an hour until we need to leave for school. And the both of you look like you just crawled out of a gutter.” He tucked the key back in his pocket, the metal jingling muffled by the fabric of his jeans. Jay sighed but released Robin.

“Ah, you’re right! I better go shower. Robin, this isn’t over!” He started jogging out of the room, tossing a playful grin over his shoulder to her as he left. Robin huffed and rolled her shoulders, putting her phone back in her nightgown pocket as she turned to Gaius. Instead of the usual sly smirk she expected, the boy wore an almost forlorn smile as he looked between the two. It must be sad sight for someone who’s had to miss out on most family experiences. Robin lightly punched him in the arm, grinning at him.

“Jay gave you a key, huh? That means you’re officially one of us Finches now.” She walked back over to the dining table, leaning on the edge. Gaius snorted, snapping out of his melancholy and regaining his usual catlike smirk, standing next to her.

“So if I come early enough next time you’ll let me in on your wrestling match?”

“If you’re lucky,” She pulled herself up to sit on the table. “Provided you don’t abuse your power to sneak into my room when I’m not here.”

“Now that you’ve said that you know I’m going to, Squeak.” Gaius winked, pulling out his key to wave it in front of her face. The black kitten keychain made Robin instantly recognise it as the first key she ‘lost’ a few years ago, prompting Jay to get another set made for her. Looks like her scatterbrained nature came in handy every now and again.

“What brings you here so late anyway? Usually if you visit it’s closer to midnight than midday.” Robin swayed her legs back and forth, raising a quizzical eyebrow. Gaius paused at her question, putting his key away and glancing behind her to the stairway. With no Jay in sight – and the faint sound of the shower working upstairs – he surmised the coast was clear. Leaning in closer to her, he whispered.

“Two reasons: number one, I need to make you guys breakfast. Seriously. You can’t live off the goopy grain stuff forever.”

“It’s called porridge.”

“Right, yes that,” He waved a dismissive hand, rolling his leafy green eyes. “But more importantly…” He was real close now, feline smirk in full sway. His sharp canines gleamed in the artificial lighting. “I need to see a picture of the girl Jay’s crushing on.” Robin had to clap a hand over her mouth to stop herself from snickering. Finally, a chance to get back at Jay for all his teasing.

“Step right over here, my ginger haired brother,” Robin dismounted from the table, head held high as she confidently marched over to one of the kitchen table tops. Considering the frame had been smashed to pieces, Robin figured it’d be best if she left her school photo and its sad wooden supports downstairs for when she got a chance to glue them. That chance hadn’t come yet though, due to the amount of work she’d been doing, which meant that she could show Gaius the photo without chancing Jay seeing what she’s up to. Robin grabbed the class photo and turned to him, offering it overdramatically. “Feast your eyes! She’s the one sat down in the front row, long blue hair. See?” She pointed at the figure of Lucina on the glossed surface.

“Woah. She is _cute._ ” Gaius had to bite back a laugh as he saw the object of Jay’s affections, nodding approvingly.

“Heh, yeah. She was in my year, so when Jay and I went to Plegia together he always hung around me to see her. He was like an awkward little puppy.” Robin smiled at the fond memory. Times like those almost made her forget the horrible things that happened after he left, even though the good occasions had been a whole six years ago now. Gaius shook his head with a humble chuckle, looking at the rest of the photo. His smile quickly turned into a frown as he pointed to a pair of blonde boys stood in the middle.

“Aren’t these those chumps from the skatepark?” Following his finger, Robin recognised the younger versions of the two they’d seen over a week ago.

“Er… Yeah. Owain and Brady.” Her voice hitched awkwardly, a silence engulfing the two after her answer. She hadn’t spoken to Gaius about anything that had happened in her old school. Heck, she still hadn’t spoken to anyone about it. Gaius examined the rest of her classmates more closely. He seemed to pause for a second, then trailed his finger to where Robin was placed. It wasn’t pointed at her, however, it was pointed at the boy next to her. A boy with a head of grey hair and a smile that could put most celebrities to shame.

Robin could feel Gaius’ gaze move up to her, but she couldn’t meet it. Instead, Robin continued to stare at the picture that was taken what seemed like a lifetime ago. A time before everything went wrong. That smile Inigo wore all the time… What would she do if he gave it to her now? Run? Cry? Hurt him? Feelings she locked away bubbled back up in her stomach, clawing their way to her chest.

“Robin! Bathroom’s free!” Jay shouted down the stairs, wrenching Robin out of the dark chasm her thoughts began spiralling down. She looked up to finally meet Gaius’ eyes. Instead of the look of pity or curiosity she’d been expecting, those green depths held nothing but compassion. Wordlessly, he held out a hand to give her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. He didn’t need to say anything for Robin to understand what he meant: I’m here for you. Offering a grateful, slightly teary smile, Robin nodded at him, then exited the room to get ready for her day at school.

* * *

The Film Club room was buzzing in excitement, the usually empty plastic chairs filled wall-to-wall with people. Girls were sat chattering to eachother, reading over their scripts excitedly as they waited for the auditions to start. Robin supposed that the majority of the school’s female drama students had crawled out of the woodwork at the prospect of landing a role in Ylisse’s film festival entry – no surprise considering the school seemed to lack in the theatrical department. Music and other performances seemed to be regular, but for the entire time Robin had been enrolled she’d never heard any word about any plays or musicals. A strange change of pace considering Plegia seemed to put on a new stage show every couple of months.

Sat in the front between the figures of Chrom and Gaius, Robin watched as Jay readied to address the crowd. The ginger boy casually glanced around the room, tapping a foot on the carpeted floor as he coolly awaited for the auditions to start. Chrom, on the other hand, fidgeted restlessly in his seat. Robin glanced at him, raising an eyebrow at the boy’s unusually tense expression.

“Chrom are you okay…?” She inquired gingerly, leaning forward in her seat so she could get a better look at his face. His blue irises shot to her, pupils panicked and wide, as he forced a very curt smile.

“Yes. Yes I’m totally fine! Just… Just excited to play this role…?” His laugh was stiff and thoroughly unconvincing, the pitch of his voice increasing as he finished his sentence. Robin raised her other eyebrow, frowning.

“You’re a bad liar.” Chrom froze at the bluntness of her statement. Unable to retain eye contact after Robin seeing through him, he instead drew his eye line to his lap.

“Right… I forgot how intuitive you newspaper types are,” He cleared his throat, scratching the side of his arm. Robin inwardly remarked that a blind toddler could’ve seen through his façade. “To tell the truth, I’m… Er…” Chrom glanced around them, somewhat relieved to find that nobody was paying any attention to them. To be safe, however, he leaned in inches away from Robin’s ear to whisper. “I’m scared I’m gonna mess up. Playing the main, that is.” The feeling of his warm breath on her skin was enough to give Robin a dizzy spell, all the blood rushing to her face. Trying her best to ignore the tingling sensation in her chest and the erratic pounding of her heart, Robin focused on answering the boy. This was the first time he ever looked to her for comfort, after all. She had to make sure his faith was not unfounded.

“You shouldn’t be! You take Drama and you’re the Head Boy, right? You’ve got plenty of experience in acting and public speaking.” She turned her head slightly to look at him, managing to keep her voice level as she addressed him and maintaining an easy smile. Chrom shrugged, pursing his lips as he glanced back down to his lap.

“Yeah, but… This is different,” The boy mumbled under his breath. “I’ve always wanted to play the hero in a love story – please don’t laugh! – so I begged Jay to give me the part. But… I don’t want to disappoint you or your brother because of my own desires. Maybe I should step down since someone else could do a better job than me.” Chrom glanced over to where Jay stood at the front, still waiting for the latecomers wandering in. It was strange seeing the ever-optimistic blue haired wonder riddled with doubt.

“I don’t think we’d be able to have anyone else play the part if that’s how you feel,” Robin leaned back in her chair, glancing to her brother. She could feel Chrom turn to look at her. She shot him a small, reassuring smile as she explained. “Jay and I are doing this because of _our_ desires. He’s making this movie and I’m helping him because we want to – we’re emotionally invested,” Robin flicked her golden eyes to him and shrugged. “I think it’ll be better if we’re doing this for our own personal reasons. Gives it a lot more heart; more weight. So, in a way, you’re the only one who can play the leading man.” Chrom stared at her as she finished, cerulean eyes back to their dazzling bright hue. The confident sparkle had been restored to those sapphire depths. They were soon pulled away from her, however, as everyone’s attention turned frontward as Jay cleared his throat.

Jay had never been bad with people – in fact, with his friendly attitude he was fairly good with them – but she could see that the large amount of those in attendance left him a tad rattled. Giving one last measured look at his audience, Jay took a deep breath and stepped forward, addressing the room.

“Thank you all for coming to audition for my film!” He gave a wide smile, friendly tone managing to wrestle everyone’s attention from their previous conversations. They all looked at him, the excitement tangible. “Now, as you can see, we’ve provided you all with the script of the movie so fa-“ Jay was silenced immediately as the door to the Film Club room flung open, slamming into the wall next to it. Everyone instinctively flinched at the loud cracking sound of wood on concrete.

“What’s the big deal, huh?!” Robin trailed her eyes downward from the doorframe trying to locate the origin of the high-pitched squeak of anger. She stopped about two-thirds of the way down, finding the short figure of what looked like a very irate twelve year old. The girl held her hands on her hips, her petite features pulled back in a pout framed by her peculiar green hair. She really didn’t look like she belonged in this room full of sixteen to eighteen year olds.

“I could be asking you the same thing, Nowi.” Jay looked equal parts frustrated and bewildered, arms crossed as he looked down at the short figure advancing towards him. The girl’s green ponytail bounced behind her as she marched, her legs comically stomping in a show of cartoonish anger.

“That’s ‘Event Planning Committee head’ to you, mister!” Nowi huffed, pointing her finger in his face. Or at least trying to. With her short arms she could only manage to reach his chest. Robin frowned, leaning to Gaius without taking her eyes off of Nowi.

“Who is this child and why is she shouting at my brother?” She subtly pointed to the girl, whispering as quietly as she could so as not to incur the wrath of the twelve year old. She heard the low rumble of Gaius’ chuckle in his throat.

“That’s Nowi, and believe it or not she’s the oldest person in the room.” Robin whipped her head around to stare at his response. The ginger boy just grinned at her, sharp canines glinting in the artificial lighting, and rolled around an orange lollipop between his fingers. She turned back to her brother and Nowi, still shocked by the revelation about her age. Jay still looked nonplussed at the girl’s chastising.

“So! Tell me, how would you describe this little film thing you’ve got going on here.” Nowi tapped her foot, purple eyes narrowed at her brother’s nonchalance. Jay shrugged.

“An extra-curricular project.”

“Okay, well, I guess that’s one way to say it, but what _other_ words could you use?”

“…A contest entry?” Jay raised an eyebrow, unsure of where she was going with this. Nowi finally snapped, throwing her small arms up in exasperation.

“An _event!_ A _school_ event, no less! _And I wasn’t told!”_ The girl screeched, stomping her foot down repeatedly like a child throwing a tantrum. Robin continued to wonder how an eighteen year old was physically able to act so childish. One of Jay’s eyes twitched.

“And your point is?” Jay pushed up his glasses, desperately trying to keep his cool. All of the girls gathered for the audition stared at the two, muttering to eachother from their seats.

“Any school event has to be approved by the Event Planning Committee first!” Nowi exhaled, regaining some semblance of chill. She turned around to face the rows of packed chairs, making a wide gesture with her arms as she addressed them all and standing on her tip-toes. “So, as the head of the committee, I say this event is cancelled! That means everyone has to get out, right now!” The girl waved her arms, pointing at the door that seemed to be stuck in the wall. All of the people who came for the audition slowly got to their feet, moving towards the doorway and casting confused, disappointed looks at Nowi. Jay’s mouth dropped open, standing in stunned silence as all his potential mermaids trailed out into the hallway. Snapping out of his stupor, he turned on Nowi, golden eyes aglow with contempt.

“What in Naga’s name do you think you’re doing, Nowi?! I _need_ this film!” He ran his hands through his silver hair, gritting his teeth as he watched the last girl leave. The plastic chairs were now empty, save for the usual Film Club members and Robin, who still had no idea what just happened.

“You should’ve thought about that before you chose to leave me out!” Nowi huffed, crossing her arms and sticking her nose in the air. The previous atmosphere of excitement had now lulled, the mostly empty room feeling barer than it did before. Jay rounded on the girl, nostrils flaring.

“Fine! Fine, okay Nowi, I’m doing a film entry for the school. As head of the Event Planning Committee, could you _please_ approve it?” His jaw was clenched, but he managed to deliver the line without causing any physical harm to the girl. Nowi raised her eyebrows and glanced at him. Putting a finger on her chin in an over-exaggerated thinking position and her other hand on her hip, Nowi appraised Jay’s request.

“…You know what? Sure! I’ll approve it,” She chirped, grinning at him. Jay sighed in relief and went to move to the door to call everyone back, but was stopped as Nowi continued her sentence. “On one condition!” Jay paused, glancing back over his shoulder at her. Robin turned to exchange a concerned look with Gaius. “I get to be the leading lady!”

Silence.

“Er, really…?” Her brother spun around to face the short, green haired girl, scowling at this new development. Nowi nodded excitedly, bouncing on the spot, purple eyes sparkling.

“Yup! Lookit, I’m a seriously _great_ actress!” She dramatically slumped over to the three figures still sat down in the front row, snatching the orange flavoured lollipop from Gaius’ hand. Before the boy could complain Nowi began her disjointed and obnoxious speech. “Oh! Happy dagger!” She held the lollipop in to the light, gesturing to it with her free hand. Robin could feel Jay’s cringe from here. Suddenly, Nowi stuck the lollipop between her arm and chest, making an unconvincing grunt as she pretended to be impaled by the candy. “This… Is thy sheath! There, rust, and… Let me… Die!” She put a hand to her forehead before crumpling across the laps of Chrom, Robin and Gaius, where she lay still. The three looked to eachother with equal measures of confusion. Robin assumed Nowi was trying to play dead, but the muffled giggling suggested she wasn’t doing a very good job of it. Jay looked far deader than Nowi did, considering the amount of colour that had drained from his face after watching this abysmal performance.

“See! I _told_ you I was amazing!” The green haired girl finally rolled off of them, jumping to her feet and putting her hands on her hips in a victory stance.

“Er, well, normally I’d love to have such talent as you joining us, Nowi,” Jay laughed awkwardly, eyes darting about the room desperately as he grappled for some sort of excuse to get this girl off his back. Nowi pouted at that. “Because… Because… Oh! Because Chrom’s playing our other lead, and I’m afraid the height difference might be a bit too extreme.” He nodded to himself, walking over to his seated friends and pulling Chrom up by the wrist. The blue haired boy looked disquieted but he went along with it anyway. With him standing next to Nowi, it only made the girl look even younger. Chrom looked more like her big brother than her supposed soul mate.

“But you can fix that with cameras, right? Cool edity tricks and stuff?” Nowi looked unperturbed by this very obvious and concerning issue. Chrom glanced at Jay, cobalt eyes wide and pleading. This definitely wasn’t the kind of love story he wanted to be the leading man in. Jay gave the boy a subtle nod, then turned back to Nowi with a strained smile.

“We could, but to do that I’d have to rewrite nearly all the lines in the screenplay to match up to i-“

“Exactly! Just do that! Oh, and while you’re at it, I have a bunch of whole new story ideas to add as well!” Nowi chimed, digging through her pockets to pull out a collection of crumpled notes. She held them out to Jay expectantly.

“…Okay, Nowi, I’m not so sure about thi-“

“If you don’t let me do this then I won’t approve your entry!” She sang, hiding the obvious blackmail under a saccharine, childlike lilt. Jay cringed, casting his eyes to his feet at the growing severity of the situation, ringing his hands through his silver hair.

“If you have story ideas, you’ll have to give them to Robin. She’s the one who came up with it.” He sighed, offering Robin a genuinely remorseful look, glasses askew across the bridge of his nose. Nowi followed his gaze to her and brightened, skipping over to her seat and sitting right on her lap. Robin would’ve jumped at the sudden contact, but she now found herself weighed down by a very petite girl.

“Can you put these in pretty please? I worked real hard on them! It’d be super great if you could add them into your cool story.” She jammed her notes into Robin’s face, the scrawl almost illegible thanks to the ridiculous amount of creases the paper boasted. Feeling a growing sense of dread, Robin took them from her and managed a forced smile not unlike her brother’s.

“Sure… Just these, then I’ll make an amended script for filming on the weekend. It’s just a couple of ideas, after all,” She glanced back down at the crumpled notes, trying to smooth them out a bit. Robin stopped for a moment as she caught one of the bullet points. “…You want to change the ending?” She looked up at the girl who still sat on her lap. Her presence was making her legs go a bit numb at this point.

“Yup! That whole ‘drowning himself so they could be together’ thing is sooo depressing! I mean, who would like to see that, right?” Chrom deflated at the girl’s criticism, finding a sudden interest in the patterns on the room’s carpet. Robin would’ve gotten up to comfort him, but she wasn’t exactly in a position to move. “Oh, and those aren’t all of them!” Robin froze at Nowi’s comment. The girl laid her head down on Robin’s shoulder, grinning up at her with that same childlike glimmer in her eyes. “I’ve got a whooole bunch more in my schoolbag! I’ll be sure to bring them in now that I’ve definitely gotten the part. This is gonna be so much fun!”

* * *

Robin pulled her bag back onto her shoulder, the momentum of her hurried pace threatening to spill it onto the concrete behind her. She pushed past the few stragglers who still remained even ten minutes after the last bell of the day, hurrying to the building that housed the Newspaper Club office. While she had intended to go straight there after her class ended, Robin found herself miraculously stopped by the same green haired girl from lunchtime, being battered with more story suggestions. Gods, she had no idea how she was going to find the time to try and work these into the already finished script. She was going to have to construct a completely new one at this rate.

Finally getting to the building entrance, Robin shoved open the door with her shoulder, then began pelting up the stairs. It was unfair to leave her club like this, so she had to get as much done today as she possibly could manage. It was lucky that she had Stahl to handle everyone the rest of the time at least – the guy was dependable and hardworking, so no doubt inspired the same in the rest of the members. Stumbling onto the top floor, Robin dropped to a haggard, out of breath walk as she approached the club room. She took a deep breath, straightened out a few stray strands of hair, then walked in with a sunny smile.

She was greeted with complete, unadulterated chaos.

The room was very loud, filled with the nattering of Lissa, Sumia and Henry, along with the curses and complaints of Tharja. The Goth was stood next to their newly installed printer (which Robin scowled at the sight of) and kicked the contraption with a foot, arms crossed disapprovingly as she glared at it. Lissa, on the other hand, was sat at her desk with her phone wedged inbetween her chin and her shoulder. She was painting her nails and completely unconcerned with the pile of papers sat in front of her. Sumia appeared to have moved her seat to the desk Robin recognised as Stahl’s, but instead of the olive-haired boy she saw the grinning face of Henry sat at it. Libra was sat obediently at his own new desk, probably the only person actually working, with earphones in as he silently drew up a few panels of his comic.

“What in Naga’s name is going on here?!” The sound of Robin’s frustrated bark lulled the room into a charged silence. They all turned to look at her, wide-eyed guilty expressions painted on everyone’s faces. Robin was just about to go on a rant before Stahl emerged from the storage closet, arms filled with various items. He lit up as he spotted her, quickly striding over to Robin with his lopsided grin sprawled across his features.

“Robin! You’re here!” He laughed, excitement pulling his voice up a pitch. Robin went to smile back at him but paused at the sight of what he was carrying. Instead of holding newspaper related equipment, like she’d assumed, Stahl’s arms were filled to the brim with an assortment of mugs, cups, ink cartridges and a couple of wrenches.

“Uh… Yeah. Can you tell me what’s happening?” Robin managed to drag her eyes away from the clutter to meet Stahl’s own warm hazel depths, managing to calm her trepidation a bit. His happy grin fell away, instead being replaced with a sheepish smile. He shrugged.

“Well… Everyone’s been working really hard so I decided to go on a coffee run to help everyone cheer up! It seems to have accidentally fallen into a routine but I can’t really say no to these guys, heh,” He chuckled, glancing back to the increasingly fidgety club members. “And since we’ve gotten our new printer it’s acted up a few times, so – since Tharja and Lissa asked very nicely – I’ve been having to do some work on it. Er, last time the ink tray kind of exploded on me though, so then I had to get some more cartridges…” Stahl turned back to Robin, smile dipping into a frown as he continued to recount these events. “Then Henry asked if he could borrow my desk since he had to work out on scheduling for next week. So of course I let him, since I don’t really get a spare moment to sit down anyway. I mean, the main article for this week is a bit behind, but he promised me he’ll be done soon so I’ll get to work on it then!” He finished, nodding enthusiastically. Robin glared daggers over his shoulder at everyone. Stahl was dependable. He was hardworking, kind, and patient. But he was also a complete and utter pushover. Brushing past his arm, Robin put her hands on her hips and addressed them all one by one.

“Tharja. Why are you using the printer? You always get your stuff printed on Monday.” She turned to the Goth stood next to the machine, who blew her black bangs out of her eyes.

“To get my article done faster I had to print out a title, since a certain little lady hasn’t gotten it done yet.” Tharja hissed, gesturing over to Lissa. Robin turned on the blonde girl, now packing away her bottle of nail polish in her desk drawer. She grinned gingerly at Robin.

“I was getting around to it, honest! But I like getting all the titles done at once, and Sumia’s taking ages with her article.” Lissa in turn pointed at Sumia. Robin now moved onto the brunette. Cheeks pink with shame, Sumia fiddled with the hem of her sleeves as she spoke to the floor.

“Um, I’ve managed to write most of a poem… But, er, Henry was having difficulty keeping track of everyone’s activities for next week so I was helping him.” She nodded at the white haired boy sat next to her. Finally stopping at the last desk in the row save for her own, Robin stared down at Henry.

“I got distracted! Stahl’s desk is super comfy so I didn’t feel like working.” He shrugged, the same grin as usual plastered on his pale face. Robin suspected he was the only one in the entire room who told her the whole truth. Sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose, Robin turned back to Stahl, whose mouth was now agape from the realisation that his good nature had been abused.

“Alright, everybody! Back to your own desks and get to work. It’s not too big of a deal since we’re not halfway through the week yet, but if I catch you slacking off again then there’ll be consequences!” Robin gave a sweeping glare across the room to punctuate her thinly veiled threat. Everyone ducked their heads and shuffled to their desks, heads down as they resumed whatever work they’d been procrastinating. Holding her gaze on her troublesome club members for a few more moments, Robin then turned back to Stahl, walking over to him and taking a few of the various items he still held in his arms.

“Here, let me help you with that,” She pulled a couple of mugs from his collection and a surprisingly heavy wrench. Now with her own arms filled, Robin glanced up to see a very grateful looking Stahl, lips upturned into a vibrant grin. Unable to resist the urge to smile with the warm sensation the sight gave her, Robin laughed and nudged the boy with her elbow. “So much for ‘I’m second in command for a reason’! Gods, Stahl, you’re too nice for your own good.”

“Ha ha, well, I’ve never really been very good at saying no to people,” He chuckled at her teasing, nudging her back. “But it’s okay, since you’re back with us now.” The freckles on his nose crinkled at his soft smile, the corners of his eyes scrunched into crescents. Robin never thought that such a tender expression could cause her heart to hammer and hurt as much as it did. Ducking her head and trying to push these feelings to the side, Robin laughed humourlessly.

“Yeah… Ah, about that…” She began, voice creaking with guilt. “I… Something’s come up, and I’m going to have to keep going to Film Club for a bit longer. So I’m afraid you’re gonna have to hold the fort down for me again in the meantime.” She looked back up at him. It lasted for what could’ve only been the space of a second, but Robin saw the edges of Stahl’s lips dip almost imperceptibly into a frown. It was gone, reshaped into a lazy smile in an instant, but something in Robin curled at the knowledge she’d caused him to have such a sad expression.

“Oh, that so? Don’t worry about it! Must be pretty important if they still need you around to help out,” Something about the gentle intonation of his voice made Robin feel even worse. Stahl must’ve noticed the concern tensing her features, because he just laughed and nudged her arm again. “It’s okay, I promise to get better at handling everyone here! Just have fun with Gaius, Jay and Chrom and I’ll take care of the newspaper.” He gave her another kind grin as he reassured her. Robin stared at him, trying to work out what he was feeling. If he really was upset, he wasn’t showing it. Whatever emotions he felt were locked behind that soft disposition, covered up by layers of sweetened pretence and sugared lies. It was in that moment that Robin realised she’d never truly seen past that opaque smiling veil Stahl put between him and the rest of the world.

“Alright, I will. I trust you.” Robin tried to conjure up her own friendly mask, but it was shaky and unstable. She’d never been very good at concealing her emotions. Olivia appeared behind Stahl in the doorway, saving Robin from looking at anymore of his faked comforts. The pink haired Feroxi waved as she saw Robin, which she returned.

“A-ah, I hoped you’d be here…!” Olivia walked up to her, rosebud lips upturned into a more genuine smile. The girl had told Robin she’d already finished with her photos for the week so she could help out Maribelle more with the Crochet Club, as the blonde aristocrat found herself a bit busier dealing with the Equestrian Club in recent weeks. No doubt this was going to be increased with having to handle Gaius as well as the funding for the horses.

“Hey Liv, what’s up?” Robin greeted her, trying to preserve her genial façade despite still being shaken up from her conversation with Stahl. Olivia glanced behind her and gestured to someone in the doorway. Following her gaze, Robin saw the short figure of the boy from her English class. Cautiously, Ricken entered the room, glancing around as he pulled on his teal beanie.

“I f-found him on my way out and he s-said he wanted to speak to you.” Olivia shuffled out of the way so Ricken could approach Robin, his brown eyes still wide as he surveyed the busy desks. He stopped right in front of her, finally making himself look her in the eyes.

“I… I want to join!” Ricken blurted out, face going red with the embarrassment of his admission. Robin raised her eyebrows. “You already know about my talents, so you have to admit I’d be a great addition to the club. I could write any kind of article or column you want me to, I-I could help out with what everyone else is doing, I could… I could…” He was having difficulty retaining eye contact, brows scrunched as he announced his application.

“Yeah. Sure. I owe you anyway, so it’d be kinda mean if I didn’t let you join,” Robin shrugged, earning her a joyful but bewildered reaction from the short, auburn haired boy in front of her. She hummed, glancing around the room as she contemplated on the role she could give him. There weren’t any free desks left for the moment so it’d be unfair to give him his own column without a workspace. She supposed he could be a big help to assist with one of the pre-existing ones, but Tharja and Sumia’s were more personal, Lissa and Libra’s jobs had nothing to do with writing and Robin didn’t really want to give the main article away to a newbie. She saw the printer and was reminded of the junk she still held in her arms, turning back around to Ricken as she thought of the perfect role. “You can be a gofer!” Ricken blinked.

“A… Gofer?” He looked mortified at the suggestion, eyes pulled wide and mouth twisted in a distasteful grimace. Robin nodded enthusiastically.

“Yeah! Y’know, do chores around the office, fix equipment, go on coffee runs… That sort of thing.” She grinned. This should at least help Stahl out with running the club so he’s not distracted with everyone’s ridiculous requests every five minutes.

“…Right.” Ricken’s jaw was clenched, voice tight. He was evidently not happy with this turn of events.

“Woah, that’s that? Ricken’s joined? Nya ha ha, welcome to the club buddy!” Henry, who had been stood by Sumia’s desk, pranced over to the four of them and patted the boy’s head. Ricken somehow looked even more abashed by his presence.

“H-Henry? You’re part of this club too?”

“Yep! I do the schedules! We’re the deskless buddies now!” Henry wrapped an arm around his shoulders, shaking the shorter boy as he laughed. Ricken’s eye twitched at his statement. Pulling her attention away from the two, Robin walked to her desk to finally put down the collection of mugs and wrenches in her arms. Just as she was about to take her bag off and finally get to work, she was distracted by the buzzing in her pocket. She pulled out her phone and unlocked it to see a text from Chrom.

_‘Hey, sorry if you’re busy, but Jay was wondering if you could come over to the club room? He said that we need to talk about what we’re going to do. I’m kind of worried as well, so I’d really appreciate it if you could make it.’_

Robin bit her lip as she stared at the screen, bag strap halfway down her arm. Jay had mentioned he was going to try and work it out with Nowi afterschool but it couldn’t have gone well.

“You can go if you want.” Robin almost jumped out of her skin as she heard the cool voice from over her shoulder. She turned to be met with the same calm visage of Stahl, arms now empty. He had his hands buried in his pockets as he stared at her with those steady hazel eyes of his. Trying to ignore her nervousness at the close contact, Robin gave him an unsure smile.

“Really? You’d be okay with that…?” She examined his face, looking for a sign – anything at all – to tell her what he was thinking. Instead, Robin was met with that same impassable barrier.

“Of course. Chrom’s asking for your help, right? You don’t want to keep him waiting.” Stahl smiled, nodding to himself, cowlick bouncing. Robin bit her lip, stomach sinking at his supportive attitude.

“I… Yeah. Thanks, Stahl.” She pulled her bag up on her shoulder, giving him a wave. He returned it lazily, leaning on the side of her desk as Robin exited the room. Swallowing the increasingly sickening lump in her throat, Robin started her walk to the Film Club. She tried her best to ignore the icy feeling in the pit of her stomach as she reassured herself she was doing this for her brother. Stahl would have to wait another day – a day where Jay’s plans weren’t falling apart at the seams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a surprise that Robin doesn't have dreadlocks with the amount of times Jay keeps messing up her hair. Hey and now Robin and Jay have officially adopted Gaius as their roguish and lovable brother! ...Too bad the angst has arrived.  
> Today's title - disequilibrium - is exactly what it sounds like: the previous comfortable state everything was in has now been upset. Something tips the situation ever so slightly to cause disarray. The angst begins! >:U  
> IN ADDITION, yesterday when I should've been writing this I actually made a really stupid Cordelia/Gaius-ish video. This site doesn't like links, so if you just search up 'Gaius Teaches Romance' on youtube you'll probably find it. It's so terrible and I am so sorry it exists.


	17. Scene Three: Crisis

The salty early morning sea air whipped Robin’s silver tresses around her face, leaving what was previously a perfectly groomed head of hair in a giant unkempt mess. The vast sandy beach around them was illuminated by patchy Saturday morning sunlight, the distant ocean waves all but forgotten save for the faded rhythmic lull of the tide. Robin felt almost at peace with the natural tranquillity that surrounded her – the stress and strain that tugged on her shoulders being slowly washed away by the cleansing, if not highly inconsiderate, wind.

Or that would be the case if she weren’t surrounded by a bunch of noisy teenagers trying to set up a movie scene.

Robin sat on a large dappled rock watching her brother, his crew and Olivia (who had offered to help with her knowledge of cameras) set up the various pieces of filming equipment on the golden shore. Pacing a few feet away from them was Chrom, reading over his script as he mouthed his lines silently to himself. Then, of course, there was Nowi. Sat on a smaller collection of rocks near the shore, the little green haired girl was having her make-up done by a very unimpressed Tharja and a ridiculously calm Libra. How the Goth had not yet murdered the childlike student was a mystery to Robin, but she guessed it had something to do with Libra talking her down every few minutes. Leaning back to watch the fluffy clouds above go from grey to white, Robin recounted how she had gotten herself in this mess.

The rest of the week had gone by in a blur of constant, unending activity. After Robin added the notes Nowi gave her, she was met with another pile of alterations and suggestions. By the time they finally got around to today’s first filming session Robin had rewritten the entire script three times. The current story they had was okay, but lacked the hard-hitting edge the original one carried with it. Robin was at least thankful that Nowi hadn’t pressed for more touchy-feely scenes – she didn’t think that anyone could manage watching the very young looking girl getting comfortable with someone who looked six years older than her. Robin even less so, considering her current feelings for the blue haired wonder.

Unfortunately, her constant involvement with Jay’s filming meant that Robin hadn’t gotten much time to attend to her own club. The few times that she dragged herself away to drop by revealed that the newspaper was running a lot smoother than earlier in the week, mostly thanks to the contribution of a very stern Ricken. Despite only having random errands as his designated body of work, the young auburn haired boy had taken it upon himself to keep everyone in order when Robin was away. In many ways he acted more like a second-in-command than Stahl did, but she guessed the boy was just thankful that he’d gotten some peace and quiet to write the main article for the week’s issue. Robin barely managed to look over the finalised version of the week’s newspaper, but it all seemed like business as usual. The only thing that particularly caught her eye was the Old Hubba write-in.

_‘Heya Old Hubba!_

_Sooo this year I’ve been feeling a little left out of everything going on here in school. I was fine last year, but now people always overlook me or try to avoid me altogether, so to stop that I joined something new! …Er, the problem is, I kind of forced my way into it. So now everyone avoids me even more and I feel lonelier than ever! I don’t know what to do to fix it. Please help!_

_From V-4-Victory’_

_‘Hey, V-4-Victory!_

_Oh dear. It seems you’ve gotten yourself into quite a situation there. I think your approach may have been a bit too forward – nobody likes it when someone throws themselves at them without a choice. My advice for you is pretty simple: instead of thinking of what you want, maybe try thinking of what they want. People will be far more welcoming to you if you’re helping them rather than forcing yourself on them. It’s a subtler approach, so hopefully it’ll go a bit better for you! Good luck!’_

Robin closed her eyes, inhaling deeply as the taste and smell of sea salt overcame her senses. Jay had asked her to come along today just in case Nowi decided to change the script again, as well for providing him some much needed moral support. She hadn’t minded, of course, but having her entire weekend usurped by a bratty teenager meant there was no room for thinking up an idea for next week’s main article. Robin was finding less and less time to devote to her own club and – by extension – Stahl and his increasingly frequent enigmatic mood swings. Or at least she assumed they were mood swings. It was still impossible to read him, a truth that simultaneously frustrated and saddened her.

“Yo Squeak, delivery from Gaius’ Life Saving Services,” The sly tone of her ginger friend hung over her head. Opening her eyes, she found a pair of catlike green eyes staring down at her, his smirking face backed by the white wispy clouds. Gaius waved a paper coffee cup above her. “Looks like I was just in time. You can’t go dying and leaving me alone in this mess, you got that?” He held out the caffeinated drink as Robin took it from him, pulling herself into a sitting position on her rocky perch.

“No promises. I can already feel my life force being drained away from me.” Robin nudged the boy as he sat down next to her, sleepy grin proof of the exhaustion she’d sustained for this.

“Heh, yeah. Me too. Maribelle threw a bunch of books on horse care at me to read over for the weekend, but I guess that plan’s out the window now.” Gaius leaned back on the rock, sipping his own cup of coffee as he watched Nowi whine about how uncomfortable the make-up was. Robin raised her eyebrows at the mention of his time at the Equestrian Club.

“Oh? How’d that go, anyway?” She took a gulp of the coffee Gaius had provided her with, the warmth of the liquid flowing down her throat and thawing out her chest. While she was thankful that the beverage had managed to wash away the taste of salt on her tongue, Robin couldn’t help but cringe slightly at the copious amount of sugar Gaius had piled in it. She was surprised the coffee hadn’t caramelised at this point. Gaius stared at Robin’s less-than-subtle smile at the mention of the club. If he hadn’t already guessed she’d been the one to recommend him, he quite clearly got the message now.

“Pretty uneventful, actually,” He rolled his shoulders, guzzling more of his sugared liquid caffeine. “I got a couple opportunities to speak to Cordelia, but she kinda ignored me for the most part. Guess she still sees me as an annoyance.” Gaius made a sad smile, looking to Robin with a strange melancholy.

“I see…” Robin frowned to herself. She was sure that all Gaius needed was a chance to talk to Cordelia more to close the gap between them, but that apparently wasn’t the case. Robin’s brow furrowed as she thought more about the red headed perfectionist, unable to stop from drawing the lines between her and Stahl. Did he guess this would happen, or was he trying to keep Gaius and Cordelia apart? She still had no idea what the boy’s feelings were, and at this rate she was never going to. Taking a quick glance to Gaius, Robin wondered whether he had any idea of the two’s relationship. It was a good idea to get a second opinion, she supposed.

“Do you think Stahl likes Cordelia?” Robin faced forward, feigning nonchalance as she watched the film crew finish off setting up the cameras. She took another sip of her coffee, Gaius leaning forward to closely inspect her face at the peculiar question.

“Why? You jealous?” He snickered, leaning his chin on her shoulder as he smirked up at her. Robin puffed out her cheeks in indignation, glaring down at him as a rebellious splash of colour flooded her face.

“What? No! I’m just trying to look out for you!” Robin huffed, trying to shake him off her shoulder. Three guys she knew had some sort of romantic tie back to Cordelia and it was beginning to frustrate her – if she was jealous it was more of the vicarious variety. Then again, Robin recalled getting a bit upset on the occasions where it seemed Stahl was closer to the redhead than herself. Robin just always assumed she was the person Stahl preferred to hang out with rather than anyone else – especially Cordelia, who still disliked her – so a little jealousy did kind of make sense, given the situation. She frowned, trying to make sense of this revelation.

“I doubt it,” Gaius shrugged, sitting up with his smirk fading as he noted the seriousness of her expression. Robin glanced at him curiously. “I think they have some history, but if he likes her now, he’s really not showing it. He hasn’t made a move on her recently – trust me, I’d know – and your little Knight doesn’t seem like the type to go after a girl who openly likes someone else,” Gaius paused, frowning as he met Robin’s inquisitive expression. His brows continued to dip in thought as he stared at her. “In fact, it’d make sense if he…” He mumbled to himself, lips pulled taut as he trailed off.

“If he what?” Robin pressed, snapping him out of his stupor. Instead of responding, however, Gaius just turned to face the now fully set up filming equipment.

“Nothing.” He muttered, face still scrunched up as he contemplated something. Robin was about to question him further at his enigmatic response, but was interrupted by her brother’s magnified voice.

“Alright, everyone!” Jay moved his mouth away from his electric microphone as it let out an ear-piercing screech. The surrounding crew members covered their ears as the noise echoed off the surrounding rocks, Jay hurriedly pressing random buttons in an attempt to fix the problem. When he failed, he just turned the contraption off and sighed, settling for cupping his mouth with his hands. “We’re about to begin filming, so everyone to their positions!” His shout got the message across just fine, everyone buzzing as they got to their places.

“Hey, Jay! Wouldn’t it be better if you moved that light over there?” Nowi flailed an arm to the light set up as she walked (more waddled considering the prosthetic mermaid tail) to her position. Jay glanced to the one she was gesturing to, already trying to suppress his annoyance.

“Hm. I guess you have a point…” He walked over to the light fixture and shifted it a foot or so, then glanced through the camera mounted atop the nearby tripod. Jay nodded to himself, casting a raised eyebrow to Nowi, splayed on the ground next to a very anxious Chrom. “Not bad. I didn’t think you actually knew anything about filming.”

“Meanie! I _was_ in your club last year, y’know!”

“Yeah but you never paid any attention to a word I said.” Jay ignored the girl’s exaggerated pout, pressing some buttons on the camera as he readied to start filming the scene. Everyone was quiet, either huddled behind him or sat atop rocks nearby Robin and Gaius. Chrom looked like he was mentally preparing himself, taking deep breaths and exhaling every few seconds. He was being far more professional than the green haired girl next to him, who looked about ready to sneeze at the heavy duty make-up that had been applied to her face.

“Okay, and… Actio-“

“I’m cooooold!” Jay was cut off by Nowi’s high pitched whine. Everyone on set let out a pained sigh at the complaint, looking on hopelessly as Jay tried to reason with the girl.

“This is a pretty short scene so as soon as we’re done we ca-“

“I wanna do the café scene! Can we do this one later instead?” Nowi was already trying to wrestle off her tail, not even waiting for Jay’s response. Robin could at least sympathise with her; Nowi’s costume did reveal a bit of skin, and in the cold November ocean breeze there was no doubt that the girl was freezing. Heck, Robin was bundled up in three layers of clothes and she could still feel the cold nip of the wind. Jay seemed to understand this, his jaw locking up tight for a moment as he contemplated a solution.

“…Fine. But we’re doing it tomorrow! We only have a solid week of filming because of the festival and we can’t miss out on the important scenes because you’re cold.” Her brother fixed Nowi with a stern glare before turning to address his crew, the equipment being gathered up as they prepared for the short trek to the nearby café. Jay probably foresaw this happening, so had already asked the café owner whether they could use their rustic little establishment for filming. Luckily at this hour the place was practically empty.

Pulling herself up from her rock and dusting the sand off her butt, Robin stretched her arms as she waited for everyone to start moving. Gaius rose next to her, finishing the last drops of his coffee.

“What’s this about a festival?” Robin turned to her friend, offering him the rest of her sickly sweet cup of coffee.

“It’s a local thing that the Ylissean schools in the district run. Fireworks, warm food, dancing, entertainment… Everything you could ask for to warm you up on a cold autumn night,” Gaius grinned, happily accepting her offering. “Cordelia plays there every year.” He added. Robin hummed thoughtfully, already thinking up the myriad of articles they could prepare for this special occasion.

“This place sure has a lot going on.” She commented, watching Gaius down the whole cup she’d given him. He laughed as he crumpled up the poorly glued cardboard, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“You’re telling me! We’ve got the Winter Sports in December, too. Never a dull moment ‘round here, Squeak.” He gestured to their filming friends, now making their way up the nearby path to the café as they juggled with equipment. Beginning to follow them, Robin pulled Gaius along by the arm as they jumped their way across the rocks.

It took about ten minutes for everyone to get to the building and a further twenty to get fully set up in the café. Both processes would’ve been much shorter if it weren’t for the constant interjections made by the very obnoxious leading lady.

Nowi and Chrom sat across from eachother on one of the café’s window tables, a jacket draped across the girl’s shoulders as she sipped her hot chocolate. Chrom was internally rehearsing his lines again, his mouth making subtle shapes as he played the scene over in his head. A few of the club members were made to be extras, all sat around their own tables and mouthing non-existent lines. One of these members was Gaius, leaving Robin to stand alone as she waited for the day to be over with already.

Robin spotted Olivia finishing off setting up the camera and caught her attention, waving at the pink haired Feroxi as Jay finalised his preparations. Olivia shyly returned the wave and offered a sheepish grin, retracting her hand to pull on her scarf - almost threadbare at this point. The girl seemed to be greatly enjoying herself on the excursion, despite only being stuck with helping out with the camera. Nothing had even happened yet and still Olivia kept an excited disposition that was lacking in the rest of the crew. Heck, with Nowi’s interruptions, she even looked happier than Jay at this point.

“Okay everyone, positions!” He announced tiredly, waiting for everyone to move back behind the tripod. The extras prepared their silent nattering, preparing for their cue to start. “In one… Two...” Jay trailed off as he saw Nowi’s hand shoot in the air. Sighing, he pointed at her. “What is it, Nowi?” He groaned, an action mimicked by pretty much everyone else in the room.

“Why don’t I have any lines for this scene?” The girl inquired, voice high with protest and pointing at the script Robin had finished the night prior. Jay sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing up his glasses as he explained.

“This is the one right after Chrom found you on the beach. You don’t know how to speak English yet.” He said it as simply and listlessly as possible. Still, Nowi continued.

“What? That’s silly! Maybe I could try and speak in, like, sea language!” She beamed at the thought, nodding energetically as she voiced the idea out loud. Nowi jumped from her seat and skipped over to Robin, grabbing her hands. “You can put that in, right? It could be like whale noises! _Oh!_ Or dolphin clicks!” The girl tried to imitate a dolphin, getting remarkably close by clicking her tongue on the roof of her mouth. Robin grimaced, tossing a worried glance over to her brother.

“I’d... Uh, have to change a lot of the script, but…” She began, a part of her dying at the thought of rewriting it again.

“While you’re at it, I thought of an even _better_ ending!” Nowi piped up, waving around Robin’s hands in her enthusiasm. Chrom looked over from his spot on the table, sad expression unmistakable. “How about the guy kisses the mermaid and she turns into a human? Or he turns into a mermaid. Either way, really. It’s a bit Disney but that means it’s good, right? Better than that really sad ending we had anyway!” She grinned, purple eyes lighting up at the suggestion. Robin could only stare at her, mouth agape as she processed this. There was _no way_ she was writing that. Not only was it cliché as all hell, but it meant having to see Nowi kiss Chrom. Just trying to picture that… Robin groped for words, licking her lips as she tried to regain her ability to speak.

“No, Nowi,” Jay said it for her, stern tone attracting the eye of everyone in the room. He walked over to the pair of girls, hard golden eyes never leaving the green haired one for a moment. “That’s enough. We’re keeping Chrom’s ending. And we’re _not_ making you speak dolphin. Actually, you know what? We’re even going to switch back to my sister’s original script because you’ve seriously ruined this one.” Silence followed his unwavering, steely declaration. Both Nowi and Robin were stuck staring at Jay’s scowl.

“…You realise you still need my approval to run this, right?” Nowi laughed awkwardly, eyes narrowed as she tried to decipher whether Jay was being serious or not.

“Look, I was including you because I was trying to be nice. You were in this club all of last year and it seemed fair to give you a chance. But you’ve really disappointed me, so I’m just gonna go ahead and get Miss Emmeryn – you know, our head teacher and Chrom’s sister – to approve it instead of you.” Jay’s arms were crossed as he explained the situation, the lenses of his glasses reflecting the artificial café light. Nowi seemed to droop a few inches, her usual obnoxious attitude chipped to pieces by the harshness of Jay’s words. She looked even younger. This rare morose image only lasted for a few seconds, however, a flash of indignant anger pulling Nowi up to stand on her tip-toes. Puffing her chest out and meeting Jay’s scowl with one of her own, Nowi voiced her retaliation.

“If you do that, I’ll tell every girl in the school to not audition for your film!” She announced, putting her hands on her hips. Jay leaned down to meet her face-to-face, eyes narrowed.

“You wouldn’t dare.” His words came out as a hiss. For a few seconds Nowi wavered, but was egged on by the assurance that glimmered in Jay’s eyes. Whipping her hair around to smack him in the face, Nowi walked over to her bag to pull out her phone. The sound of ferocious finger tapping punctuated the silence, then dissipated as the whole room lit up in various notification sounds. She turned back to Jay with a cocky smirk.

“Used the committee e-mail address to send a warning to every person in school. Now you have to keep me.” Nowi tried to stop her smirk from turning into a big, goofy grin as she basked in the aftermath of her actions. Jay glared daggers at her, hands balled into shaky fists.

“I-I’ll just get a girl from outside of school to audition instead.”

“Can’t do that. Contest rules say that everyone involved has to be from the school entering.” Nowi sang, drawing her attention to her nails.

“You… I…” Jay’s face was scrunched up in contained fury, finding great difficulty in putting his thoughts into feelings. Robin shuffled over to him, putting a hand on his arm and giving it a reassuring squeeze. This seemed to bring him down a few notches, but his anger did not fade. “You’re still fired, Nowi. I’m not dealing with your crap anymore. Guess filming’s cancelled, everybody!” He laughed humourlessly, pulling his arm away from Robin and backing away towards the door. Both his arms fell limp at his side as he looked around at everyone, a few beads of tears gathering at the sides of his eyes. He turned and looked straight at Nowi one last time, any hint of a smile long gone. “I hope you’re happy.” Without another word, Jay turned on his heel and exited the café.

A long silence engulfed everyone left, all eyes on Nowi. Her eyes were wide, shock hindering her ability to process what just happened. She looked to Tharja, then to Chrom, then to Robin. Regret was painted all over her face. Ignoring the pleading expression that Nowi gave her, Robin shook her head and turned to run after her brother.

* * *

For the rest of Saturday Jay locked himself in his room, only popping out on occasion to either go to the bathroom, have some food or get lovingly interrogated by Robin to which he always answered with ‘I’m going to fix this.’ Sunday passed in much the same way, leaving Robin to sit at her desk and worry for her brother’s mental health. Despite calling off filming for the weekend, she still worked on a new-and-improved version of the original script. Unfortunately, with Nowi sending that message to _everyone_ in school, they couldn’t even cast another guy as the lead. It was a nightmarish situation and Robin honestly wasn’t sure they could fix without reworking the whole story.

Regardless, the weekend transpired without a word from Jay on what they were going to do. With the November festival hanging over his head, he only had a full week of filming before everyone got busy making other preparations. The fact that he’d lost two whole days probably made him even more desperate to get out of this situation.

Sick of worrying, Robin eventually retired to bed. Her thoughts of Jay, Nowi and the film were washed away in her haze of exhaustion. She’d barely gotten any sleep for the whole week and she was thankful for the opportunity of a full night’s rest. Closing her tired eyes, Robin drifted off into a heavy sleep.

Then was awoken by the sound of her brother’s voice.

“Robin…? Are you awake…?” He whispered, peeking his head around the side of her door. Robin blinked open her sleep-crusted eyes, willing for her obscured vision to adjust to her surroundings. The room was darkened, her glow-in-the-dark stars the only light source, but she could still see the glint of Jay’s glasses. Sighing, Robin rolled over in her bed, creating a space for him.

“Yeah… What is it?” She patted the empty piece of mattress beside her. Closing the door behind him, Jay walked over to sit on the side of her bed. He was quiet, but even with the scarce light and the blur of being half-awake, Robin could see the dark bags under his eyes. She couldn’t bring herself to look at the time for fear of realising how late her brother had stayed up worrying.

“I… Feel like I’m not getting anywhere,” Jay finally voiced his thoughts, exhaling deeply as he laid down on his back. Pushing up his glasses, he turned his head to meet Robin’s tired gaze with a drained smile that sagged at the sides. “From the very beginning it’s felt like a constant battle. I’m just not sure that I’m cut out for it after all.” He rubbed his forehead, letting out a wheeze of a laugh.

“Don’t say that, Jay. You were doing really well with this film until Nowi stepped in.” Robin reassured him, sleep choked voice coming out as a gravelly mumble. She pulled up the covers to her chin, reaching a hand out to pat his messy hair.

“I’m not talking about the film,” He cast his eyes to the stars as he rolled onto his back again. Robin’s hand paused, one eyebrow raised in confusion at his statement. “I’m talking about me. Wanting to become a director.” Jay finished, taking off his glasses and holding them gently in his hands on his chest. A wordless silence passed. Robin wasn’t sure how to respond to that, especially given her messy state of mind. Instead of attempting to conjure up some long winded ramble to disprove him, Robin rolled over to him and brought her head to his level on the pillow.

“Stop being a dummy.” She lifted the hand she’d used to pat his head, curling in her fingers to deliver a weak sideways bop to his forehead. Jay chuckled at her response, glancing at her sleep-clouded eyes.

“That’s rich coming from a dummy like you.” He stuck out his tongue and laughed at the frown she pulled.

“If you’re all cheered up, then please kindly leave. I have a week of sleep to catch on.” Robin yawned, trying to pull the duvet covers over herself. She didn’t get very far however, as Jay was still lying on top of half of it.

“Actually… I had something to ask you,” Jay put his glasses back on, turning to her with a sheepish grin. Narrowing her eyes, Robin lowered the covers to stare at him. The clear pair of lenses did nothing to hide the nervous, erratic movement of Jay’s eyes. “Could you… Um, play the mermaid? In the movie…?” His request came out awkwardly, immediately followed by a bout of anxious laughter. Robin attempted to process what he was requesting of her. It didn’t work very well.

“You mean. Like. Act? As the _lead?_ ” She re-iterated his words slowly, beginning to sit up. Jay rose with her, nodding.

“Look – I _know_ it’s a lot to ask – but I’m out of options! I already sent a bunch of requests online, but Nowi’s message yesterday drove everyone off. None of our friends are any good at acting, so-“

“I thought you said I sucked at acting.” Robin was scowling, still bewildered. The sleepy cogs in her mind were refusing to cooperate with this nonsensical turn of events. Jay shrugged, offering a small smile.

“As you know, it’s not really much of a speaking role. So all you’d need to do is look confused and totally smitten with Chrom… Both of which you do anyway.” As if to further illustrate his point, Robin blinked dumbly, brows furrowed.

“So… I’d play the lead with Chrom? In roles where we’re totally in love with eachother?” Robin was beginning to finally catch on, heart already pounding at the image. It may not be real, but to see her crush acting like he’s into her – that he’d literally give his life to be with her – was kind of an exciting prospect. Maybe she could write in that kissing scene after all.

“Yep. Just you, him, and the rest of us who will be filming your every move.” He chuckled, punching her arm lightly. In her weary state this was still enough to push her over. Flailing her arms to regain her balance, Robin finally ended leaning against the wall alongside her bed and scowling as Jay’s chuckles turned into laughter.

“So romantic,” Robin huffed, leaning her warmed cheek on the cold plaster wall. She looked back at her brother, outlined by the faint moonlight outside her purple drapes. Pausing, she noticed one of the picture frames on her windowsill. The image of the photo was enough to drag her back into harsh reality, away from her fluffy dreams of filming with Chrom. “But the newspaper…” Robin groaned, rubbing her face with her hands. Last week’s issue barely scraped by, even with Ricken’s help. Even then, Robin had sorted out the main article with Stahl the week before. If she was stuck filming right from the get-go, there wouldn’t be any chance to figure out what to write it on.

“Look,” Jay sighed, shifting uncomfortably in his spot on the bed. “I completely understand if you can’t help out. You have your own life – your own important responsibilities – I can’t ask you to throw that stuff away for me. I’ll… Y’know, just figure something else out.” He shrugged and smiled at her. Robin clenched her jaw, narrowing her eyes as she studied her brother. The very fact that he was asking her showed that he _couldn’t_ figure something else out. He’d spent two days thinking about it, after all. Leaning her back against the wall, Robin let out a deep sigh. The newspaper was extremely important to her, no doubt about that, but so was her brother. This was the first chance he’d gotten to take a step closer to his dream – a foundation she’d already gotten. It seemed unfair to leave him like this without at least trying to help, especially considering all he’d done to support her in the past year.

“I’m not sure if it’ll work out, but… I’m willing to try.” She forced a tired smile. Jay lit up at her response, throwing his arms around her out of pure joy.

“Ahh, you’re the best little sister ever! We’ll practice a scene at lunchtime. Depending on how it goes we can decide from there whether you want to take the lead or not. No pressure to keep going if you don’t want to, okay?” He pulled back, grinning from ear to ear. Robin nodded. At her response, Jay unwrapped himself from her and got off the bed, walking to the door. “Cool! I’ll let you get that sleep now. See you tomorrow, Robin.” He gave her a small wave before disappearing out of the door, closing it behind him.

As soon as the handle clicked, Robin flopped on her bed, smothering her face with a pillow. The weight of worrying about her brother had now been replaced once again with her newspaper responsibilities, her body being crushed by the solid rock of guilt it formed. Stahl was not going to be happy about this. Still, there was no guarantee; she’d just go to the Film Club lunchtime and see what happens. If it didn’t work out, she’d be back to helping out Stahl and he’d be none the wiser. If it did… Well, she’d cross that bridge when she came to it. And honestly, despite this negative spiral, a part of Robin buzzed at the idea of sharing these intimate roles with Chrom. Exhaling into the warm softness of her pillow, Robin closed her eyes and buried her feelings to embrace sleep once more.

* * *

Lunchtime seemed to come a lot quicker than usual. Robin had spent the morning running around and busying herself with as much non-newspaper related stuff as possible, mostly in an attempt to avoid seeing Stahl at all costs. She’d even gotten a few texts from him concerning the week’s article, but – as she was awaiting to conclude what her role with the Film Club would be – Robin had promptly ignored them. She just had to keep going for another hour and she could sort everything out once and for all.

The Film Club room was back to its mostly empty seats, but the members at least seemed a lot happier now that the bratty pseudo-child star was nowhere to be seen. In fact, Gaius seemed a little _too_ happy as he handed her a copy of the script she’d printed out earlier that day. Slinking across the sea of plastic chairs, her ginger haired companion plopped himself beside her and produced the stapled pile of papers.

“Here ya go, Squeak. I wrote the little helpful notes myself. Heh, you know, just in case you forgot who you were acting with.” Gaius slid the script into her hands, feline smirk becoming more worrying by the second. Casting him a wary glance, Robin flipped through a few of the pages. As she did she was unable to ignore the copious amount of doodles and ‘encouraging’ comments he’d made about her and Chrom. Fighting the embarrassed flush that threatened to overcome her features, Robin snapped her script closed.

“I am so lucky to have you as a wingman.” She glared at him, covering her face with the paper. Gaius could only laugh at her venomous tone.

“Heh, you’ve no idea,” He winked at her, rising back to his feet as he noticed Jay preparing Chrom to start. “Just wait ‘til you see what scene you’re practicing.” Before Robin could question his dubious comment, Gaius strolled away from her to talk with his blue haired friend. She turned her gaze back to the script. Poking out of it was a single pink sticky note, presumably to mark the scene they’d be using. Carefully, Robin flipped to the page. She’d written it all, of course, so she knew there wasn’t anything _that_ bad she could be subjected to. In a way she was thankful she hadn’t written in the kissing scene, otherwise there was a chance this lunchtime would become a lot more awkward.

“Ah crap.” Robin whispered under her breath as she saw the page.

“Okay, let’s start! Chrom, Robin, come here please,” Jay’s sweet voice cooed from the front of the room, beckoning his sister to stand next to the blue haired boy who stood nonchalantly reading over his script. Gulping, and internally cursing her brother, Robin rose from her seat and stiffly walked over to them. “As you can see from the bit I’ve bookmarked, I’d like you to practice with the scene where the mains realise their feelings for eachother.” Or, as Gaius had nicknamed it in her script, the ‘Cuddle Scene’. Gods, just the _thought_ of being close to Chrom made her brain turn to mush, let alone touching or hugging him in any way.

Robin snuck a glance to her brother, face bright red as she contemplated whether she was actually going to survive this lunchtime. He smirked and gave her a thumbs up. Was this his way of ‘subtly’ convincing her to stay? If so, it was working. Ignoring their onlookers, Robin turned to Chrom. Instead of being a flustered mess – like she half expected him to be, considering their previous close encounters – he met her more erratic eyes calmly, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck.

“Um… Is it okay to practice this scene? Considering…” The blue haired boy awkwardly trailed off, gesturing limply to the script with a stiff smile. Robin couldn’t help but feel disappointed that she didn’t have the same embarrassing effect on him as he did on her. Gods, did he like her or not?!

“I-I’m fine with it!” She squeaked, waving her arms around a bit more enthusiastically than she meant. Behind her Robin could hear the muffled laughter of her brother and Gaius.

“Are you nervous about playing the lead?” Chrom chuckled warmly, a lot more welcoming sound than the teasing tone drifting over her shoulder.

“Whaaaaat? Noooo! Pshhht! What could _possibly_ have given you the impression that I’m nervous?” Robin put her hands on her hips, joining in on the laughter, despite sounding a lot faker than everyone else. It may have been because she was shaking or couldn’t bring herself to make eye contact, but Chrom didn’t seem entirely convinced. He was half right – though it wasn’t the role or the acting that was making her nervous.

“You shouldn’t be. On set you’ll be able to do as many takes as you want, and if you’re having trouble you can always ask me for help,” He gave her one of his dashing smiles that made her heart melt, as well as making her legs go wobbly. Pausing to think on his statement, he added more humbly. “Not that I’m an expert or anything! Far from it. But, uh, I hope I can be of some assistance.” Chrom scratched his cheek, laughing again. Robin couldn’t help but return a small smile at his offer.

“You seem pretty good to me. Guess these kind of dramatics come to you naturally considering all your public speaking, huh, Head Boy?” Gaining some courage at his reassurance, Robin managed to put on a playful tone as he teased him. Chrom shook his head, waving his hands politely to dismiss her claim.

“No, it’s more like something I learned as new people started speaking to me. I definitely wouldn’t have been good at anything like this before then.” He gave her another of his heart-poundingly sincere smiles. Before _then,_ huh? A hint about his sudden rise to popularity five years back perhaps? Juicy. Better seize the opportunity.

“Yeah? Wow, something pretty crazy must’ve happened to make that many people take notice of you!” Robin went to give him a joking nudge but paused as she found his smile frozen in place, his eyes still locked on her. She blinked. Had she said something weird?

“Ah… Yep…” Chrom tore his gaze away from her and looked to his feet, rubbing his arm self-consciously. The sudden shift in atmosphere was interrupted by the chipper tone of Jay, smiling at the two as he stood in front of them.

“Shall we get started then?” He gestured for them to move closer. Awkwardly, and ever so slowly, Chrom and Robin shuffled nearer to eachother. They stopped when they got about an inch apart. Robin found a sudden interest in the floor as she felt the soft warmth radiating from Chrom’s body, no doubt in her mind that her face was a bright shade of crimson. Jay stared at the pair. “Okay seriously you’re going to have to do better than that. The script says to _hug_.” Before Robin could find a moment to complain, she felt a strong arm wrap around her shoulders and pull her to Chrom’s chest.

“How’s this?” The deep rumble of Chrom’s baritone voice shook Robin’s body, one side of her face pressed against the mass of fabric covered muscle between his shoulder and chest. The cotton of his shirt felt soft against her skin, but the sensation was almost completely lost to her in the wave of numbed thrills she suddenly found herself subjected to. Jay’s response was mumbled by the blood rushing in her ears, heart threatening to jump right out of her mouth. “Robin? You alright?” Chrom’s words managed to squeeze their way past her heartbeat, causing her to jerk her head up to face him. Unlike her, Chrom had once again kept his calm disposition, face devoid of colour as he smiled. Gulping, Robin managed a squeak of a response.

“Y-yeah, this is… F-fine.” She practically whispered, throat suddenly dry, and tripping over her tongue in the process. Everything suddenly felt so intense to Robin: the way her body was pushed up against Chrom’s, how she could feel the warmth of his breath on her skin as she looked up at him, the little flecks of grey that surrounded his pupils.

“Good. I’m glad.” His expression softened as he continued to smile down at her, sending more shivers up her spine. It felt like Robin had been whisked somewhere far away, a place where the only thing that mattered was how she felt when she was in Chrom’s arms.

“Hey, is Robin here? I need to talk t- Oh.” Robin was suddenly dragged out of her romantic thoughts by the sound of a new voice. She slowly pulled her eyes away from Chrom’s to get a view of the source, finding herself looking at the door.

Stood in the now open doorframe was Stahl. His usual placated, friendly expression was suspended in a wide-eyed, open-mouthed look of surprise. The hand around the door handle had stiffened to the point that it looked like he would break it off any moment. For one painfully long moment, Robin locked her eyes with his. The pair of welcoming hazel pools that were home to such vibrancy and kindness had frozen over – the warmth that glowed from their green specs now dissipated. For all of Stahl’s barriers and well-meaning lies, Robin finally found a second where she could peek past his veil. What she saw could only be described in one word: hurt.

“I… Ah, sorry, I was interrupting something? Um, okay, don’t worry about it, I’ll… Bye.” Forcing an even tone, Stahl flashed a fake smile before he tore away from the image of Robin and Chrom’s embrace. As quickly as he appeared, he was gone, the doorway empty once more. Panic flared in Robin’s chest at his leave.

“Stahl! Wait!” She quickly untangled herself from Chrom, only feeling a frigid deadweight where there once was warmth, and stumbled after the boy. Regaining her footing, Robin hared out of the doorway. She whipped her head around to look down both sides of the hallway, seeing a quickly retreating figure to her right. _“Stahl!”_ She shouted after him again, the rubber of her shoes squeaking against the linoleum as she sprinted down the hallway. Reaching him just as he was about to turn off, Robin grabbed Stahl’s wrist and skidded to a halt, pulling him to a stop in front of her.

“I… P-please… Let me… E-explain…” She wheezed, desperately trying to catch her breath. The weak grip of her thin fingers clasped around his wrist managed to keep Stahl rooted to his spot, despite the fact that he could quite easily break free any moment if he wanted to. Gaining some air back in her lungs, Robin finally found the energy to look up at him. He had turned around, staring at her. His expression had once again turned unreadable – except his smile was now replaced with a neutral line – but she didn’t care.

“Things… Fell apart for Jay on the weekend,” She began, grasping for the words to make him understand. “He asked me if I could come along today to see if I’d make a good replacement for the female lead in his film. Nothing was decided, so I… Was gonna wait to tell you what was happening… Um…” Robin trailed off as she finished her explanation, searching for some extra lines to comfort him. She couldn’t find any. More than likely he was upset because he thought she was abandoning him again, which wasn’t completely wrong. She’d suspected her rushing off and leaving Stahl alone was troubling him, but she had no idea that it was to this extent.

Stahl was quiet for a long while, studying her with a strange detachment. His eyes held a hint of hardened steel as they examined Robin’s face, searching for answers as if they were written in fine print on her pores. She pulled gently on his wrist. Despite the cold treatment he was giving her, the steady beating of his pulse under her fingertips and the warm, supple sensation of his skin on hers reminded Robin that Stahl wasn’t some unfeeling robot. Just because he locked his emotions away didn’t mean they weren’t there. Robin conjured up the most comforting smile she could muster, squeezing lightly on his wrist to try and reassure him that she cared. Stahl met her gaze, the hard sheen in his eyes melting away at the sincerity reflected in Robin’s.

“…You’re doing this to help out your brother, right?” He sighed as he spoke, his previously tensed shoulders drooping. Stahl wrapped his free hand up in his olive bedhead, still hesitant to pull himself from her grip. Robin felt relieved that he understood. Nodding, she continued.

“Right. And as soon as I’m done, I-“

“But it’s still nice for you to get that close to Chrom, isn’t it.” The glacial chill was back in his voice – the words hanging in the air like sharpened icicles poised to strike her down. Robin’s smile faltered, replaced with a confused scowl. Stahl pursed his lips then pulled them into a sad smile, slowly unravelling his free hand from his hair. Instead of yanking his wrist out of her hold, he ever so gently unwrapped her fingers and held them as he removed his other hand. For the few moments their fingertips touched Robin felt something jolt in her chest, suddenly giving her the urge to grab onto his hand and never let go.

Then the moment was gone as soon as it begun. Stahl dropped his arms to his sides, taking a step back from where Robin stood, suspended in the exchange they just made. Blinking, Robin pulled herself from its hold and let her hand hang limply beside her.

“It’s fine, alright? I get it. You can do whatever you want, Robin. I’ll just find someone else to help me with the article this week.” It sounded honest, but she knew it wasn’t. Offering her a more convincing, friendly smile, Stahl gave a small wave as he resumed a casual stroll turning off from the hallway. Robin watched him go, still reeling from everything that had just happened. Feeling the familiar tug of dread in her stomach, she walked over to the nearest wall and rested her forehead on it. She squeezed her eyes shut as she realised that, for the first time in a long while, she was going to have to let her brother down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part was originally going to be a scene longer (but it was gonna be quite a big one) but I liked the part this ended on so I'm leaving it until the start of the next one. Head's up though, the next part was originally going to be super long - now it's going to be MEGA long. Maybe not Off The Record levels of long, but we'll see.  
> Also I gotta apologise that this update is a little later than usual. It's been a hectic week since I got my exam results Thursday and - surprisingly - I did pretty damn good. Soooo I'll be off to University mid September-ish, which means there'll probably be a gap in updates for a couple of weeks around then. I'll warn you guys when we get closer to the date though so do not fret for now friends. I'm not gonna give up on this I swEAR  
> Today's title refers to a narrative crisis. This is the part of the story where the protagonist - our dear little Robin, in this case - is at her worst. Terrible things have happened and now she has to rethink her whole stance on things.


	18. Scene Four: Climax

“Jay I am _so_ sorry, I really want to help you as much as I can, but I can’t just ignore my responsibilities and dump them all o-“

“Robin it’s _fine_ , you’ve already apologised like five times. I’m not upset!”

A day had passed since Robin’s lunchtime encounter with the second in command of the Newspaper Club. As soon as she’d returned to the Film Club’s room she’d launched into incoherent babblings, proclaiming that there was no way she could play the leading lady. Nobody questioned her further – Jay calmed her down and told her it was okay, promising that he’d find someone else and leave her to deal with her own responsibilities.

Now it was Tuesday breaktime, and Robin had found that, despite his constant reassurance, she still felt the guilt of letting down her brother weighing heavily in her chest. They sat across from eachother on a table next to a window, flecks of rain thumping on the glass. Robin reminisced that the last time she sat on this table was when Sumia accidentally dropped all of her poetry out of the window. She sighed, missing the much simpler matters she contended with two months ago. How did things get this complicated?

“If you say so…” Robin pulled on one of her damp bangs, leaning back in her seat as she trained her eyes cautiously on her brother. He seemed honest enough - the tired smile he wore didn’t waver, nor did the candid golden depths that were half obscured by his drooped eyelids. It was getting harder and harder to look at Jay and see anything but his ever increasing exhaustion.

“I do say so. And I also say that you need to stop worrying about it! You need to hurry up and tell Stahl that you’ve stopped helping us, so you can get back to your article for this week.” Jay insisted, holding out an accusing napkin at her. Instinctively groaning at his motherly tone, Robin raised her arms in an exaggerated shrug.

“I will, I will! …As soon as you find a replacement for me.” She quickly added, guilty smile crinkling the edges of her eyes. Jay just stared disapprovingly at her with raised eyebrows.

“So what, in the meantime you’re just going to sit uselessly on the side-lines, not doing anything?”

“Yep.” Jay sighed at her response, running a hand through his ragged silver hair. It looked like he’d been lacking in the personal grooming department as it was, but the rain seemed to make him look even scruffier.

“Robin, c’mon, that’s unreasonable. I’ve been trying to think of a solution since Saturday! It’s not like the answer is going to walk right up to us.” He exclaimed while making manic hand gestures. As if right on cue, Olivia appeared next to their table. She once again donned her pink windbreaker, recreating the marshmallow s’more look that Gaius had praised her for.

“Hey Olivia. Any luck?” Robin shifted her chair over, pulling a nearby free one up to their table. The girl shook her head, pink braids swaying with the movement, and sat down next to her.

“N-no… I asked everyone in m-my Drama class and no-one wanted to t-take part…” Olivia pulled on her frayed scarf, biting her lip as she directed her mournful violet eyes to her friend. Robin sighed at her answer.

“Damn. Guess we’re back to square one.” She leaned back more in her chair, pulling on a few silver strands.

“Wait a second,” Jay’s voice dragged both the girls’ attention to him, looking between them with his brow furrowed in confusion. He paused on Olivia and moved to point the napkin at her. “You act, Olivia?” The pink haired girl nodded, pulling on her scarf again. Jay smiled widely at her answer, sitting up in his chair with a sparkle in his eye that had been absent for the past few days. “Do you think you could play the lead?” He leaned forward on the table, staring at her expectantly.

“A-ah… Me…?” Olivia stuttered, going red at the proposition. She looked to Robin, silently asking for her opinion on the matter. To be honest, she was kind of ashamed that she hadn’t thought of this solution. It was hard to remember that the shy mess of her best friend was also talented in the performing arts. Or so she said anyway, Robin had yet to witness one of her performances first hand.

“Sure, why not? I think you’d make a great mermaid.” Robin chuckled, nudging Olivia’s side. The girl was definitely the best option – Robin felt much more comfortable having the Feroxi be Chrom’s co-star than some random girl they picked up from auditions. Plus it may help her with her shy disposition. Olivia offered her a small smile at the encouragement, then turned back to Jay with a nod.

“Okay… I’ll do it,” Despite her initial hesitation, it was clear by the firmness of her tone that Olivia was actually looking forward to participating in Jay’s movie. As it was, Robin doubted that she ever got many opportunities in this school to perform. “Oh, but…” Olivia paused, happy little smile dipping into a pensive frown, drawing her gaze to her lap. Jay – who had been grinning like an idiot at her response – seized up at her quiet uncertainty.

“…But what?” He encouraged her to continue, making a ‘go on’ motion with the napkin. She glanced back up at Robin.

“I-I won’t, um… Have time to t-take the pictures for this week’s p-paper…” She pulled on one of her pink braids this time, the strand of scarf she was previously fiddling with now frayed beyond belief. Robin blinked dumbly and shrugged, giving her another reassuring grin.

“That’s not a big deal! I’ll just take over instead. I really need to make up for my lack of involvement last week, after all.” She waved her off casually, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms. Panic flashed across Olivia’s violet eyes.

“B-but you’re not very goo-“

“Yeah yeah I know, but the newspaper can survive a week with bad pictures. Better than leaving Jay’s movie without a lead.” Robin nodded to herself self-assuredly, confident this was the right course of action. Pictures were important in a spread, sure, but she doubted that anyone would be in uproar if one week’s issue featured Robin’s sub-par photography skills. Olivia still seemed worried about leaving Robin with this role, but turned back to Jay all the same.

“O-okay. I’ll t-take the part.” Jay almost jumped over the table to hug the both of them. Instead, he settled with doing a victorious air punch and threw the napkin up in the air as a show of celebration.

“Yes! Alright, we’ll start filming tonight after school, I’m thinking that…” Robin zoned out as her brother started telling Olivia about his image for the character she was portraying. Leaning her chin on her hand, she turned her golden globes to the gentle drizzle falling down outside.

There was something strangely comforting about the scene – the sound of muffled talking and the clatter of the canteen around her mixed with the haunting calm of the dark and rain beyond the glass of the window. She exhaled, a tenseness leaving her shoulders. The worry she’d harboured for the past week over her brother had now dissipated, leaving her with an almost alien sense of calm. A side of her mouth twitched into a smile. Jay was going to be fine after all.

“…Robin? Hey space cadet, we need you on planet Earth right now.” Jay’s gentle teasing drew her attention away from the window. Robin blinked at the two looking at her.

“Present, Houston. Something up?” She leaned back in her chair again, returning her arm to her side. The joking faded from Jay’s face as he got her attention, smile pulled into a straight line.

“You’re going to have to tell Stahl about this. You know. How you’re down a photographer for this week. And how you’re not in the film anymore.” His bluntness made Robin flinch, her shoulders tensing back up with the resurgence of another one of her troubles. Any excuse she had to avoid Stahl had now been thrown out the window into the rain like Sumia’s poetry.

“Er… You’re right…” Robin laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of her neck. “Maybe I’ll go find him afterschool! Then we’ll have plenty of time to discu-“

“Y-you’d better do it now, actually. Um, it can be h-hard to schedule photos s-so you need to figure out w-what the article’s on pretty quickly.” Olivia chimed in, oblivious to Robin’s attempts at procrastination. Biting her lip, Robin looked from her to her brother. They both stared at her intensely. There was no escape this time.

“…Fine. I’ll go find him.” She sighed, slowly rising to her feet, a sudden heaviness in her legs. Glancing around the canteen, Robin couldn’t find the messy olive bedhead that belonged to Stahl. Strange considering he was always buying way more snacks than he needed here at breaktime. She bit her lip, about to sit back down when she met the piercing stares coming from Olivia and Jay.

“He’s p-probably in the club room.” Olivia supplied. Silently cursing her choice of supportive friends, Robin nodded and pulled her chair out of the way, walking away from their table and through the bustling crowds of damp teenagers permeating the space of the canteen.

After a minute of shoving her way through the crowds, Robin found herself outside in the rain. The cold chill hit her immediately – wintery breeze carrying the drizzle in her direction, instantly covering her face in a sheen of water. Robin sighed deeply and raised her arms in a lousy attempt to cover her head from the rain, breaking into a jog along the slippery cobblestones. It didn’t take long to reach the building that housed the clubroom, but when she entered through the doors into the dry interior, she was still soaked. The weather had left the purple hoodless jacket Robin wore clinging uncomfortably to her body, the shirt she wore under it sharing the same unfortunate fate.

After wringing out some locks of her waterlogged hair she began her ascent up the stairs, leaving a trail of small puddles as she went. As Robin reached the end of the first flight of steps a faint sense of anxiety began to set in. The last time she saw Stahl it hadn’t ended well, after all. It was unlikely that he’d still act upset with her – he rarely showed her anything but friendliness, after all – but there’s no way he’d gotten over it already. He was shaken up enough to drop his façade, which was enough evidence to show that her ditching him had left a deep effect on him. There was no way that was just it though, right? There had to be something else behind it to make him run off like that. Something he wasn’t telling her.

Robin finally reached the floor of the Newspaper Club. Taking another few seconds to wring out more water from her hair, she accepted that she probably looked like a mess. She doubted Stahl would care, but the whole ordeal was causing her enough stress without being reminded of how she looked like a drowned rat. After doing the best she could manage, Robin sighed once more and dragged herself to the closed doors of the club room. She caught sight of the postbox that housed the Old Hubba write-ins, unable to supress a smile as she saw it had already been filled up to the letter slot. It was reassuring to know that people were still enjoying the paper despite last week’s chaos. Pulling her attention to the task at hand, Robin steeled herself as she pushed open the double-doors.

The club was never particularly busy at breaktimes. The only people who ever came at this time were herself and Olivia, usually to sort out pictures and captions for the week’s article. Yet still, somehow, Robin found that there were two figures stood inside. In front of her desk, locked in a seemingly amiable conversation, was Stahl and Cordelia. The sight of the pair smiling and laughing made something catch in Robin’s throat. The serpentine writhing in her stomach returned, nonsensical jealousy freezing her in place. Stahl was the first to notice, smile fading into a look of shock so brief Robin almost missed it.

“Oh. Hey, Robin.” His tone was even and mellow, the same voice he’d addressed her with a hundred times before, yet this time it made her want to recoil and block it out. It wasn’t _real_ – that friendly voice was a lie, and it was suddenly suffocating knowing that Robin was the only one that could tell. Cordelia’s smile immediately sagged into a frown, casting her crimson eyes over her shoulder to fix Robin with a wary stare. 

“Uh… H-hi. Stahl. Cordelia.” Robin’s voice came out hoarsely. She glanced between the two, the previously pleasant atmosphere completely dissipated with her appearance. Why was she even here? Cordelia wasn’t a member of the club – hell, she actively avoided Robin. Was Stahl trying to replace her or something? The thought wedged in her mind, the snakes snapping in her belly revelling at the implications. She shouldn’t have come here. This was a mistake. Robin took a step backwards, panic stirring her feet. Stahl seemed to notice, breaking away from his spot with Cordelia and walking closer to the doorway, easy smile displayed across his features.

“Ah, she’s just here because she’s helping me out with this week’s article! I couldn’t think of anything, and you were busy, so she offered to assist in doing a piece on the school’s orchestra. They’re practicing for this month’s festival.” Despite his perfectly reasonable explanation the doubt and jealousy still clung to Robin’s chest, much like the damp clothes that were now seeping the cold into her bones. Cordelia’s expression didn’t shift, her arms crossed over her chest as she watched Robin. The redhead seemed unaware of the effect that her being around Stahl had on Robin.

“There’ll be no pictures,” She blurted out the first thing that came to mind. Stahl stopped in place, head cocked to the side with an eyebrow raised. Robin took another step back and found herself against the wall of the hallway. She met Stahl’s dishonestly sweet hazel eyes as she continued this train of thought. “I-I figured that it’d be best if I stopped helping out Jay as much because of my responsibilities here at the newspaper…! So we tried to find a replacement and got Olivia to play the lead with Chrom instead. It means she’ll be too busy to take this week’s pictures, but…” Robin wet her lips, taking a deep breath as she looked back between Stahl and Cordelia. The boy had now met her own eyes, staring at her as she spoke. “…Seeing as you don’t need my help on the main article, I’ll do them instead.” She finished curtly, words steeped in venom as the serpents twisted their way to her throat.

Stahl blinked at the unexpected edge to her voice. Before he could open his mouth to tell her any more sweetened lies, Robin turned away from him and began running down the hallway. Her shoes glided across the wet wood panelling of the building, lending her additional speed as she fled.

“Robin, wait-!” The sound of Stahl’s voice followed her. She glanced over her shoulder, the world almost going into slow motion as she saw the olive haired boy reach out towards her. His fingers grazed the skin of her wrist.

In a sickening twist of bittersweet irony, Robin snatched her arm out of Stahl’s reach. If she let him stop and comfort her she’d have to listen to his voice again. She couldn’t do it. Robin wasn’t like him; she wore her emotions clearly for all to see, regardless of whether she wanted to hide them. She spoke candidly more often than not, but even so her occasional lies were easy to see through. But Stahl didn’t do that. She couldn’t tell the difference between the façade and reality; his lies and his truths.

As she pulled away she chanced one last look at his eyes. It wasn’t like the emotion she saw yesterday – there was no hurt, but they weren’t empty or veiled, either. Instead, Robin was met with an unfamiliar emotion swirling in his beseeching hazel depths. Part of her wished for a moment longer to try and decipher the foreign feeling she saw, but it was too late. Stuck in the paralysing grip of panic and envy, Robin could only offer Stahl a small, apologetic smile as she slipped from his grasp, continuing her run away from him as she turned down the stairway.

* * *

The deep oranges of the setting sun painted the cloud cover in an exotic array of watercolour splashes, deceiving warmth juxtaposing with the cold weather outside. The colour seeped in through the downstairs window of the Finch household, casting blinding rays into Robin’s eyes as she tried to fiddle with the camera Olivia lent her. She shifted uncomfortably on the sofa in an attempt to find a spot that did not entail the painful glare of the blurred sun. Huffing, Robin shuffled to the far edge of the sofa and raised a cushion in front of her face to protect herself, resuming examining the camera with one hand.

A part of her was still reeling from the day’s earlier encounter with Stahl, leaving her punching the camera’s buttons with a bit more force than necessary. Hopefully Olivia wouldn’t be getting it back in pieces. Huffing, Robin leaned her head on the back of the sofa and closed her eyes. The past week had given her nothing but strife, even though she’d spent the entire time trying to help others for very little personal gain. In fact, pretty much the only thing she’d gotten from helping Jay was a sense of sibling accomplishment and being able to see Chrom more often. She frowned as the second thought came to mind. When Stahl ran off yesterday didn’t he say something about Chrom?

“Hey sis, still stuck on camera duty?” Robin opened her eyes to the sound of Jay’s chirping, turning around on the sofa to see the form of her brother stepping in through the front door with a grin she’d almost forgotten existed. He had his own camera strung about his neck as he closed the door behind him, kicking off his pair of shoes, sand flying as he did.

“Yeah. Stahl doesn’t need me for the main article so now it’s my only responsibility. How was filming?” She attempted to replicate Stahl’s fake friendly smile, leaning her chin on the back of the sofa as she watched Jay remove his jacket.

“Pretty good, pretty good. If we keep filming after school like this then I think we’ll be done by Sunday. Olivia’s a really good actress and she’s got good chemistry with Chrom. Er, on camera, anyway. The moment everything switches off they can’t speak a word to eachother,” He chuckled to himself, grin still present. Robin felt relieved to know that everything was finally coming together for Jay, and the added bonus of getting Olivia to perform helped dull the misery of her current situation. Jay turned to look at Robin as he finished hanging his coat up. His cheer faltered a little as he saw her face. “Something up?” He inquired, brow furrowing in concern. Robin silently cursed own lack of acting ability. Dropping the smile, she groaned and hid her face with a pillow.

“Stahl doesn’t need my help because now he has _Cordelia._ ” Even with the cushion covering her mouth Robin still managed to add a hiss to the redhead’s name. Just thinking about seeing those two laughing together as she stood alone in the doorway was enough to conjure up a lump in her throat. Robin heard a sigh, then felt the edge of the sofa beside her sag with new weight.

“Jealous, huh?” Startled by the sudden closeness of Jay’s voice, Robin dropped her cushion and glanced to see her brother leaning his chin on the back of the sofa next to her. He pulled a hand up to pat her head, fighting a smirk. “I guess this means you’ve moved on from Chrom then.” Robin flushed at the implications, throwing the cushion at his face and ducking away from his reach.

“I-It’s not like that!” She squeaked indignantly, glaring at her brother as he stood up to his full height. He laughed at her reaction.

“C’mon Robin, you’ve gotta try better than that. Alright, then what _is_ it like?” Jay jumped over the back of the sofa and sat down next to her, making an effort to look exaggeratedly interested by putting his hands on his hips. Robin glared at him and placed the camera on the nearby coffee table.

“It just feels like he’s replacing me, okay? And after the fuss he made yesterday about me leaving him it kind of felt like a slap to the face. Especially considering my relationship with Cordelia,” She sighed and deflated into the plush sofa cushions. “I just don’t get him!  I never know what he’s thinking or what he wants from me. Hell, I don’t even know what his feelings for Cordelia are. It’s infuriating!” Robin ran her fingers through her hair, tugging at the roots as she vented her frustration. Smirk now dissipated, Jay watched her with his brows furrowed. He stayed silent for a few moments, seemingly lost in thought, before he finally spoke.

“This is stressing you out that much, huh?” Robin nodded sadly, eyes trained on her lap. Jay sat up straight and crossed his arms. “I wasn’t gonna tell you about this, but since you’re not busy with this week’s newspaper and need something to take your mind off of Stahl…” He scratched his chin as he trained his clouded eyes on her, still distracted by a separate train of thought. Robin snapped her attention to him at the opportunity of an escape.

“What is it?” Her golden eyes sparked when he trailed off. Pulling himself back to the situation at hand, Jay offered her a smile at her sudden curiosity.

“After school on Thursday there’s a little film festival showing off the winners from the last contest two years ago. All of this year’s participants are probably gonna be attending, and Chrom said he wanted to come too, so-“

“I’ll come!” Robin practically jumped up from her spot as she interrupted him, an excited grin pasted across her features. Jay raised an eyebrow but didn’t voice any concern, simply shrugging in acceptance.

“Okay then. We’ll go straight from school on Thursday.” He got to his feet and walked back to his bags, picking up the camera he’d been using for filming. Robin watched him go and glanced over the sofa, biting back a smirk as she called after him.

“Is a certain blue haired girl going to be there?” She chimed innocently. Jay froze on the spot at her words, shoulders tensed. Not even dignifying her with a look, he hurriedly thawed himself out of his position and scurried past to the stairs, camera slung over his shoulder.

“M-maybe.” Was the last thing Robin heard as Jay whisked out of the room and started up the staircase, soft thump of feet on carpet the only sound that followed after his shaky reply. Robin laughed and flumped down on the sofa, picking up Olivia’s camera once more. Even if she was still having to deal with the enigma otherwise known as Stahl, at least she had something to look forward to now. Robin just prayed she could find a way to figure him out soon.

* * *

The Newspaper Club was bustling with activity as Thursday lunchtime began drawing to a close. Most of the week’s columns were completed and laid out in front of Robin at her desk, along with the various mediocre photographs and captions she’d managed to produce centred around the school’s orchestra. Tharja’s horoscope was as vague and mysterious as ever, Sumia’s poetry was getting sweeter by the week, Lissa’s drawings continued to be adorable and Libra’s new comic was absolutely breathtaking. In fact, as the story went on he seemed to be garnering more praise around the school for his art than ever before. It looked like it was bolstering his self-confidence, judging by the way he smiled as he handed her the week’s pages.

“They’re fighting off an assassination attempt instead of zombies this time, huh? I like these new characters you’ve introduced.” Robin looked up from the intricately stylised pages to beam at Libra. He chuckled humbly at her compliment, using a hand to tuck some stray strands of his long blonde hair behind his ear. He’d made a habit more recently to wear it in a messy ponytail whenever he was painting, most likely to avoid the earlier incidents where he ended up with various shades of blue and purple clinging to the ends of his hair.

“I’m pleased to see you think so. Hopefully the rest of our readers share the sentiment.” Libra smiled warmly, moss green eyes alight with a sense of gratification. He turned around and made his way back to his desk, packing away some of his loose art supplies and chatting with Tharja as the Goth waited for him. Following suit, Robin picked up the current spread and neatened up the pile, then opened up her top drawer and safely tucked the pieces of paper away for Chrom to collect tomorrow. There were only two things they were missing for this week’s issue: Old Hubba’s column and the main article. The former she wasn’t worried about, as it usually appeared on her desk by Friday lunchtime, but as for the latter…

Robin looked up from her drawer to survey the room. Libra and Tharja were now on their way out, Lissa following not far behind them with her fluorescent yellow schoolbag slung haphazardly over one shoulder. Henry was talking excitedly at Ricken, who wore an expression of panic mixed with strange fascination, as Sumia leisurely got her stuff together. The only person still working was Stahl, hunched over his desk with his back to her, the olive cowlick atop his head swaying every so often as he wrote. They hadn’t spoken much since Tuesday, exchanging only the usual polite pleasantries. Robin knew they didn’t mean anything. She didn’t want to pressure him about the article – despite his lack of leadership skills Stahl was very reliable when it came to writing and deadlines. Robin trusted him with that much, at least. She glanced back across the desks, seeing Sumia now ready and beginning to walk to the door with Henry and Ricken.

“Hey, Ricken. Can you come here please?” Robin stood up from her chair and called the young boy over. Ricken turned his head towards her then gestured for the other two to go on without him, slaloming around the various desks as he stopped in front of her own. A few stray bangs of his auburn hair shifted under his teal beanie as he made his way to her.

Robin had taken note of the boy’s behaviour in the past few days and had decided that he was unsatisfied with his role in the club. There wasn’t much she could do to change that considering their capacity issues, but – if how he reacted after they got their scores in English was any indication – Ricken liked having his efforts acknowledged. Her best guess was that it had to do with his age difference. Regardless, she felt like she had to say something to make him feel better.

“Didja need something? I’m not getting you another coffee, if that’s what this is about.” He smiled good-naturedly, but the slight twitch of one of his brown eyes betrayed his distaste. Robin only laughed and shook her head, walking around the side of her desk to address him. She still had to crane her neck downwards to talk to him.

“No, nothing like that,” She waved a hand dismissively. Ricken seemed to relax a bit, twitch ceasing. “I wanted to properly thank you for your work last week. Seriously. If you weren’t around to help keep everyone in line, I don’t think we would’ve managed to make the issue by Friday,” Ricken’s eyes went wide at her praise, a spark of glee upturning the sides of his lips to create an ecstatic grin. “I’m really glad you’re on board, Ricken. Thanks for joining us.” Robin fought the urge to pat his beanie clad head, having to remind herself that he was only a year younger than her.

“Does this mean I get to have my own article?!” He swayed back and forth on his tip-toes excitedly at the prospect. Robin paused awkwardly, silence extended with her half-frozen stiff smile. The enthusiasm slowly faded from Ricken’s eyes as he awaited her reply.

“Er. I mean, I _would_ , but…” She cleared her throat, gesturing to all of the full desks in the room. The boy’s smile quickly faded. “…We don’t really have a workspace for you. But you’re too good for a silly writing job! Instead I’m promoting you to stand-in team leader for when I’m not around.”

“Does this mean I don’t have to get people drinks anymore?”

“No you still have to do that.” Ricken sighed at her reply but still managed to cock a half-smile.

“It at least feels good to get some recognition. But as soon as we get more desks I better get one or I’m leaving!” He stuck an accusing and surprisingly dainty finger in her face, cheeks puffed out in a childish pout. Robin could only laugh at his reaction and pat his shoulder.

“Okay, it’s a deal,” She produced a Finch grin as if to seal the deal. “I’ll see you tomorrow Ricken.” He nodded at her and retracted his arm to pull up one of his bag straps.

“Yeah. See you tomorrow, Robin.” Giving her a short wave, Ricken made his way across the obstacle course of the clubroom and to the door, disappearing through the open doorway and down the hall. Robin smiled to herself at the exchange. It also made her take a mental note of asking Chrom for another room to add to the club. As it was they couldn’t get any new members or articles, after all.

Robin turned back around to her desk, scooting around the wooden furniture to grab her bag. She was the only one left in the room and had no work left to do, so it’d be best to get a move on. She was halfway through putting the messenger bag strap over her head when she heard someone clear their throat.

“Um, Robin?” She froze mid-movement at the sound of Stahl’s voice. Slowly turning her head, Robin was met with the visage of the olive haired boy standing at the edge of her desk. One of his hands was tangled in his messy locks, the other tucked in one of his trouser pockets. His eyes were decidedly looking at anything but her. Thankful that she didn’t have to meet his gaze, Robin pulled her bag off and held it with one hand, moving around to face him. When he didn’t continue she prompted him.

“Yes, Stahl?” The neutral tone that she spoke with earned her a brief look at his eyes. They looked the same as ever – same sweet, warm veil obscuring his real feelings. His gaze rested on a random spot on her desk, one hand messing up his olive locks even more as he opened his mouth.

“Ah, I wanted to ask if you could maybe finish the main article off for me tonight? I’m busy so I won’t have time to.” He chuckled hollowly at the end of his reply. Robin raised an eyebrow at the dubious request. Maybe he was helping out at his family clinic, or perhaps doing some other club related activity. Wait, was he even _in_ any other clubs? Robin frowned at the realisation that she really didn’t know much about him. Not that it was her fault – Stahl wasn’t exactly the type to talk about himself.

“Can’t you get Cordelia to do it for you?” Robin drew her attention to the wood grain of her desk as she made her flippant retort, lacing it with as much innocence as she could muster. She ran a single finger along the dark brown lines and noticed Stahl look towards her through the peripheries of her vision.

“She’s got orchestra practice tonight.” The bluntness and immediacy of the reply made Robin cringe. Of _course_ he knew what she was doing – Robin was probably his second option. Feeling an overly familiar writhing swell back up in her gut, Robin raised her chin and felt a sudden urge to get back at him.

“I see. I’m busy too though, I’m afraid, so I won’t be able to finish it off for you,” She stated simply. Robin heard Stahl scoff at her excuse. Feeling a flash of hot vindictive ire flare up in her chest at his disbelief, Robin jerked her head towards him, golden eyes sharpened into daggers. “What?! I’m going with Jay to a film festival tonight!” Robin spat out the words like molten metal clung to the end of her tongue. She met his gaze for the first time and found his eyes had sparked ever so slightly at her fiery retaliation. Stahl pursed his lips as he fought to maintain eye contact with her.

“Let me guess: Chrom’s going?” His level tone sounded ever so slightly hoarse, as if he were forcing the words out of his throat. Robin blinked, brows furrowed into a scowl, and nodded slowly. Why was he mentioning Chrom again? It’s not like he had a problem with her being around him before. Stahl closed his eyes and took a deep breath, once again blocking her out, and slowly exhaled. When he opened his eyes again they were back to their calm and steady hazel depths.

“Okay. I understand. Don’t worry – I’ll figure something out. I’ll just finish it in class or something.” Stahl shrugged casually and presented her his lopsided smile, the freckles on his nose scrunching up at the gesture. Something inside Robin buckled at the sight of it; the expression she used to gain a feeling of warmth and safety from now felt cold and fake, just another by-product of him trying to fool the world.

As if nothing were wrong, Stahl turned away from her and began to stroll towards the open doorway, his gait as serene as ever. The image of his back turned to her quelled the fire in Robin’s chest, leaving her with an icy, desperate void. She didn’t want it to be like this between them. Robin dropped the bag that hung limply from her hand, bounding past the carpeted flooring and running right in front of Stahl as he was about to reach the door. He blinked in perplexity and his walk came to a stop.

Robin wet her lips, frantically searching for the words to make Stahl understand how him shutting her out made her feel. Her hands balled into fists as she struggled against the ever-present frustration he conjured up whenever she was around him. Biting her lip, she looked up at him. He stared at her calmly, waiting patiently for whatever she was going to do. Taking a sharp intake of breath, Robin stood up straight and met his lying eyes head-on, releasing her right hand from its fist and uncurling her fingers. She glanced down and stared at it for a moment, then exhaled and looked back up at Stahl, reaching out her hand and placing the palm flat over the left side of his chest.

“You’re not letting me in.” Robin’s voice fell to a low whisper. The words seemed to get through to Stahl, his previously lazy half-lidded eyes flying wide open at her contact. She could feel the heightened beating of his heart through the thin and soft cotton of his shirt, the warmth flooding the skin of Robin’s hand. 

Robin had never been very good at understanding people’s emotions but she could read them like a children’s picture book. In all her years she’d never needed much else – look at people’s faces and learn their tics, learn what those tics mean, learn how to use those meanings to churn out some new information that no one else had. She’d never needed to know how to cover up her own tics, or to understand why those meanings or emotions were there in the first place. All she’d needed to know in Plegia was the what, when, where, who, how.

Yet, here she was.

Ylisse showed her that the why was the most important part. That in order for others to look below the surface and forgive her mistakes she had to do the same for them. Robin had been trying so hard since Cordelia – trying to help, trying to understand. But now she was faced with the person she wanted to understand most of all and he wasn’t letting her.

“It’s not fair,” Emotion choked Robin’s throat, making her voice raspy. Warm tears rolled down the sides of her cheeks as the fingers on Stahl’s chest curled desperately to cling onto the fabric. “It’s not f-fair that you’re d-doing this to me, Stahl!” Her cry was punctuated by trembling sobs that wracked her shoulders. Robin looked directly at his face, which was now taking on a much softer, scared appearance by the moment.

“I-I…” He fumbled clumsily over his words, unable to tear his eyes away from the figure before him. Stahl’s previously closed expression had now devolved into a chaotic mix of mingling emotions ranging from panic, concern and distress to outright embarrassment if the flush staining his cheeks was anything to go by. “I-I’m _so_ sorry, Robin,” He croaked, his own voice fraught with raw emotion. “I…” Stahl took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut, one of his hands ghosting over the back of hers as she continued to hold onto his shirt. Robin looked up at him expectantly, a couple more beads of tears escaping as she tried to blink them away. His left hand finally found the one clutching onto him and wrapped his fingers around it. The warm glow of his skin on hers made her hand lax instantly, the feel of his beating heart fading away to be replaced with the same jolting sensation Robin had felt in her chest a few days prior. Stahl slowly pulled it away from his chest and held it. They were in that position long enough for Robin to try and memorise the tenderness of his skin and the callouses that covered the tops of his fingertips. Every moment that passed felt like another hundred hammers to her heart. After what felt like a century, she finally watched as Stahl reopened his eyes. In the few seconds that he held her gaze, Stahl’s eyes conveyed nothing but that unfamiliar emotion she’d seen when she ran off from him on Tuesday. Then, he sighed.

“You’re right. I can’t. I _can’t_ do this to you,” Stahl let go of her, dropping Robin’s hand limply to her side. “I can’t put you in this kind of position. It’s really, _really_ unfair,” He ran both his hands through his hair, messing up his already sloppy olive locks exponentially. “Just… Forget it, okay? All of it. I- you don’t deserve it.” Unable to look her in the eyes, Stahl pushed past the stunned figure of Robin. The only proof he’d ever been there in the first place was left in the form of the permeating warmth in Robin’s hands and the rhythmic thumping in her chest. She finally snapped out of her stupor and whipped around to the doorway, but she was already too late.

Stahl was gone.

* * *

The walk to the festival grounds took about forty minutes. The rented open field was situated just within the boundaries of the country’s capital – Ylisstol – which luckily fell within the space of a few miles of their own suburban outreach of Ylisse. They could’ve been there in ten minutes if they’d opted to take a train, but Jay had _insisted_ on walking so that they could ‘enjoy the evening air’. Which, Robin guessed, was just a fancy excuse for making more time to think of how he was going to greet Lucina.

“Do you think any of last year’s winners were romances?” Chrom walked in the middle of their little trio, cerulean eyes brimming with excitement as they passed more signs pointing towards the festival. Jay shrugged, fidgeting with a few strands of his silver hair while looking at his reflection on his phone. His hands glided with a nervous energy, pulling on various parts of his bangs as he answered Chrom.

“They haven’t posted any videos of the films online, but from what I’ve heard last year’s winner was a horror.” Finally leaving his hair alone, Jay shoved his phone back in his pocket, flicking his golden eyes to their darkening surroundings. Robin pulled her slick black jacket over her chest as a chilling breeze swept the street. Despite only being mid-evening the sky had turned a dusky indigo, a few stars beginning to peek through the wispy clouds.

“Great. A horror is just what I want on a night like this, far away from home.” She muttered, brow scrunched into a scowl. Her mood had predictably soured since lunchtime and the soreness in her feet was not helping her dour disposition. Chrom laughed, evidently oblivious to the bite of her words.

“I didn’t picture you as the type of girl who’d let a film get under her skin.” He directed his dashing grin towards her, deep chuckle ringing out against the faded noise of the increasingly busy street. Under any other circumstance Robin would giggle like a schoolgirl at receiving one of Chrom’s charming teases, but given her current attitude all she could do was return a weak smile. Somewhere in the back of her mind she could hear Stahl asking after the boy.

_‘Let me guess: Chrom’s going?’_

_‘It’s nice for you to get that close to Chrom, isn’t it.’_

Robin squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out his lilting tone. Why does he care, anyway? Well screw Stahl, this was her opportunity to talk to the handsome guy she had a crush on and she would _not_ let _him_ distract her.

“Are you kidding? She couldn’t sleep on her own for like a week after we watched _‘Nightmare on Elm Street’._ She kept climbing into my bed at night and sobbing until I told her it wasn’t real.” Jay snickered at the memory, his nervousness apparently not dulling his capacity for embarrassing quips. Robin flushed and leaned behind Chrom to smack her brother on his arm, hard. “Ow!” Jay whined, rubbing the spot where she hit him.

“You jerk! I was _eight!”_

“Yeah, and you were a baby.” Jay returned, nose raised high indignantly. She smacked him again.

 _“Ow!_ Stop that!”

“Now who’s the baby?” Robin huffed and held up her balled fist threateningly, face still red.

“Woah now guys, let’s try to get to the festival in one piece.” Chrom turned around to stand between them, intercepting any further injuries. Despite his interruption Robin could see the smile that played at the edge of his lips while watching the siblings’ fight. The two shared a momentary glare, then sighed and turned to face the front.

“If you say anything else about me I’ll tell Lucina about that one time when you were eleven-“

 _“You wouldn’t.”_ Robin smirked at Jay’s breathy interruption, mouth wide at the prospect of her possible betrayal.

“Try me.” She stuck her tongue out as they resumed their walk, Chrom struggling to hold in his bout of laughter at the exchange.

It only took a few more minutes to reach the open metal gate in front of the field. The place was buzzing in activity, every square inch covered by either excited, chatting people or various large tents showcasing a wide range of independent films. A couple of food stalls were littered around, pushing all sorts of greasy snacks in the faces of the attendees. The unmistakable scents of buttery popcorn and hotdogs mingled together and affronted Robin’s nose the moment they stepped inside.

Jay stood on his tip-toes as he peered over everyone’s heads, the vast array of harsh artificial lamps flashing off his glass lenses. He narrowed his eyes as he spotted whatever he was looking for. Pointing assuredly to a particularly large tent towards the middle of the field, Jay began the march.

“That’s the place where they’re showing last year’s top entries!” As he started winding around the bustling figures, Chrom and Robin shared a short glance, then went to follow after him. The assault to Robin’s senses continued as they walked; the smell of snack foods now joined with sweat and an overabundance of deodorant, the bright hanging lights dotted around hurting anyone’s eyes that dared to look up. She lost sight of Jay almost immediately thanks to the sensory overload, but luckily she had the head of deep blue hair a few feet in front of her to guide her through the ever-present miasma. 

Chrom came to a stop in front of her as they reached the more thinly populated small clearing in front of the tent Jay had spotted. Robin almost smacked into the boy’s back, but managed to catch herself and awkwardly sidestep around him to get a better view of where they were. The tent before them was easily the largest they had come across, decorated in subtle colours of browns and ochre reds, with a small chalkboard out front listing the films showing and their times. It looked like the reason the immediate area was so empty was because the next film was about to show in a couple of minutes.

Having just finished scanning the chalkboard himself, Jay turned around to give Chrom and Robin a giddy grin. He had that familiar spark in his eyes that he got whenever something film related excited him.

“The winner’s about to show now!” He beamed and pointed to the chalk writing over-exaggeratedly as if they couldn’t see it from where they stood. Chrom mimicked his grin, albeit lacking in the same manic energy that pulled at the edges of Jay’s. “C’mon we better get going befo- oof!” Jay’s call was cut off as he walked into someone, his glasses knocked right off his nose in an almost cartoon fashion as he collided into the other figure.

“Ah I’m so sorry! Hang on, let me just… Wait, Jay? Jay Finch?” The person Jay had walked into stepped into the light as she bent down to pick up his glasses from where they lay on the floor, stopping and staring as she stood back up and handed the spectacles to him. There, illuminated by the harsh lighting surrounding them, was Lucina – cobalt blue hair running past her shoulders adorned with a golden hairband, porcelain facial features beautiful and pristine even under the severe brightness. As soon as Jay put his glasses back on and saw her he froze up.

“L… Lucina?” He croaked, voice hushed in disbelief despite planning to run into her in the first place. Lucina nodded and produced a shy smile.

“That’s me,” She laughed awkwardly, an action copied by Jay and only served to somehow make the situation even more uncomfortable. Robin and Chrom watched from the sidelines, unsure of how to help. “So I’m guessing you’re here to look at the last contest’s winners too, right? Should’ve figured that I’d be competing against you!” Lucina gave Jay’s arm a friendly punch. Unfortunately it happened to be in the same place that Robin was hitting him earlier, so made him wince instinctively. A flash of panic flared in Lucina’s eyes at the reaction but before she could add anything Jay covered it up.

“You know it! Don’t think I’ll go easy on you just because we know eachother.” He quickly blocked out the pain and struck a silly self-assured pose with both hands on his hips, earning him a modest chuckle from the blue haired girl.

“Don’t expect me to let up, either!” The two laughed again, the same stunted uncomfortableness settling in over the nearby spectators. A small silence faded in after the two went quiet, both standing and fidgeting on the spot as they groped for a new conversation topic. Robin could not believe that her brother – the usually witty, snarky Jay – was reduced to a wordless, nervous mess by just being in the same vicinity of Lucina.

“So…” Jay began again, pulling on the cuff of his sleeve as his eyes struggled to look anywhere but the girl in front of him.

“So…?” Lucina echoed as he didn’t continue.

“…What kind of film are you making?” Jay finished. Instead of instantly groaning at the prospect of a film-related conversation topic, Lucina’s ultramarine eyes shone like a pair of perfectly cut sapphires.

“Oh! A psychological thriller, actually. About some kids who get stuck in a bad alternate timeline and have to return to the past to fix it. I’m pretty excited about it,” The girl chatted enthusiastically about her project. Jay perked up a little at her response, nodding encouragingly for her to continue. “I’ve had the idea rolling around in my head for a while, so when I heard about the contest I knew I had to do it!” Lucina smiled widely and then wrapped a lock of her hair around a finger, suddenly becoming a bit self-conscious about her previous excitement.

“Really? That’s impressive! I’d no idea what I was doing until the start of last week.” Jay chuckled, seeming to set Lucina at ease with his praise.

“But it’s _you_ – I’m sure whatever you wrote it’s amazing.” Her unexpected compliment threw Jay off kilter, his smile freezing at the edges. Robin noticed the panic begin to set into her brother’s darting eyes at the mention of his writing. It’d been a very long time since anybody had mentioned that to him.

“I… er, didn’t write it,” He laughed stiffly, back to his awkward intonation. Lucina cocked her head to one side curiously. Jay looked around, trying to find a way to escape from this conversation topic, and his eyes stopped on Robin. She began to start shaking her head but it was too late. “My sister did!” Jay raised a finger to point at her, still stood at the edge of the empty clearing with Chrom. Lucina followed it and her gaze stopped on Robin.

“Uh. Hey.” Robin put a hand up for a small wave. The surprise slowly faded from Lucina’s immaculate features as a smile pulled at her lips, returning the wave.

“Hey.” Her greeting was soft-spoken and gentle, a far-cry from what Robin got the last time she’d seen someone from Plegia. Robin blinked dumbly at her kind response, hand pausing mid-wave as she tried to compute the fact that there was someone from her old school that didn’t hate her on the spot. Lucina’s eyes didn’t linger on her for long – thankfully – and instead moved to Chrom, whose face was calm and collected upon witnessing the scene. Looked like Jay had already informed him of who he was hoping to run into.

“I’m Chrom. Jay and Robin’s friend, from Ylisse.” He provided with a smile.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lucina, Jay’s… friend. From Plegia.” Lucina returned, turning back to Jay to find him now staring at his feet, probably inwardly cursing himself for handing off his opportunity to talk to her more.

“Lucinaaa! We got the popcorn and drinks, so all systems are go for this film thingy!” A chipper voice cut through the crowd, drawing everyone’s attention to the far left of the clearing. A girl squeezed past a few figures and skipped into view, curly brown pigtails bouncing. Her arms were filled with a large bucket of popcorn and a single paper cup. “Your snack saviour Cynthia is here to save the da- woah!” The heel of her ankle boot snagged on a rock, knocking the girl off balance and sending her on a trip hurtling to the floor.

“Cynthia, don’t run with your arms full.” She was stopped by another girl emerging from the crowd behind her and catching the back of her collar, one-handedly pulling her back upto her feet. Her other arm was filled with another pair of drinks, her amethyst eyes rigid. The new girl’s short, black bob shifted as she turned her head to get a complete look of her surroundings, stopping as she spotted Jay. Cynthia was now stood back up properly, beaming at the girl.

“Thanks a bunch, Kjelle! Man, it would’ve been a real bummer if-“

“Finch. What are you doing here?” Kjelle’s voice was cold as she addressed Robin’s brother. He looked up from his shoes, blinking in surprise at the new arrivals. Before he could say anything, however, Kjelle cut him off again. “If you’re here, then that means…” Her eyes narrowed as she looked around the clearing again, this time finding Robin. She instinctively cringed away as Kjelle’s cold eyes locked with her own, gulping as Cynthia turned her attention on her as well, grin faded.

“Stay back, everyone. Looks like we’ve got a dastardly villain in our midst.” The brunette took a step towards her, happy-go-lucky attitude replaced with a harsh tone and deep-seated scowl.

“You’d better get out of here,” Kjelle’s voice dropped to a growl as she advanced towards Robin. She took a shaky step backwards, unable to tear her eyes away from the girl’s intimidating figure. “We don’t want you causing any more trouble than you already ha-“

“Girls, stop,” Kjelle and Cynthia paused at the sound of the voice, glancing away from Robin to her unlikely hero. Lucina put a hand on Kjelle’s shoulder and frowned. “She’s had enough, okay?” The two looked at the serious expression Lucina wore then back to Robin. Mumbling to themselves, the girls shrugged and backed off, walking towards the front of the tent. Lucina sighed and looked towards her. Robin gave her the most grateful smile she could muster and mouthed ‘thank you’, which earned her a small smile and a shake of the blue haired girl’s head, as if to say ‘think nothing of it’. With that, she turned around and walked back to her spot next to Jay, whose face was lit up in an expression of outright delight.

“So what are you doing here, Finch?” Kjelle had turned to talk to Jay, doing her best to ignore Robin’s existence. Her voice made him flinch, drawing his attention away from Lucina and back to their two new arrivals.

“Ah, I’m entering the same competition as Lucina.” He chirped, exchanging another smile with the girl stood next to him. Cynthia gasped and regained her bombastic disposition, juggling popcorn to point at Jay, her eyes pulled wide.

“That means you’re our rival!” A few fluffed up kernels of popcorn spilled over the top of the bucket as she declared their new adversary. “Don’t think you’ll succeed – Lucina’s been working real hard to make sure that our school wins!” Lucina laughed tiredly at Cynthia’s antics, running a hand up to rub the back of her neck.

“I haven’t really been doing anything more than what anyone else would d-“

“She’s already been organising our school’s winter musical _and_ helped hand-make the costumes we’re using,” Kjelle interrupted, walking up to Jay and squaring off with him. They were about the same height but Kjelle cut a much more imposing figure with her wide shoulders and toned arms. “She’d already storyboarded the whole film by the end of the first day the contest was announced.” While the girl’s comments only seemed to make Lucina more embarrassed, they made Jay’s smile falter a little.

“Woah, really? Already? But you’ve only been there for two months.” He laughed rigidly, golden eyes trailing to the girl stood next to him. Lucina just shrugged.

“In the last couple of years in Plegian secondary school I ended up becoming the head director for all the live performances. It’s not because I’m great or anything though – it’s just no one else wanted to do it, and everyone seems to listen to me.” The modesty of her words were not lost on Jay, making his smile go even stiffer as she humbly deflected all the praise.

“Oh! The film’s about to start!” Cynthia’s shrill cheer cut through the previously serious atmosphere, about to barge into the front of the tent before having her collar caught by Kjelle again.

“Actually I think I remember seeing something interesting in another tent over that way,” The dark haired girl nodded in the direction of the crowd they came from. Cynthia blinked dumbly at her, brows furrowing at her friend. “Lucina, you go on ahead with Finch. Me and Cynthia’ll meet up with you by the popcorn stall.” Kjelle handed one of the cups she’d been carrying to Lucina and began walking away. Cynthia’s frown turned into an o of understanding as she looked between the slightly reddened faces of Jay and Lucina.

“ _Ohhhh!_ Yeah… Yeah! See you in a bit, Lucina!” The brunette grinned and ‘subtly’ winked before running off after Kjelle. Before the pair disappeared into the crowds once more, Kjelle cast Robin another wary glare. Then only Robin, Chrom, Jay and Lucina were left in front of the tent again.

Robin glanced towards the blue haired boy who’d stayed silent for the entirety of the exchange. His expression was neutral – lips relaxed into an indifferent line, body language the same relaxed stance with his hands in his pockets as it had been before. He caught her eye and offered Robin a small smile, reassuring her that he probably wasn’t going to press further. Throwing a smile back at him, Robin turned to Jay, now back to chatting semi-awkwardly with Lucina.

“Hey Jay can you go on ahead without us…? I’m kinda hungry.” Robin patted her stomach for emphasis despite the creaky, unconvincing lilt in her voice.

“We were thinking about going to get a hot dog. You want one?” Chrom chimed in to support her claim, making a far more persuasive case. Not that it really mattered to Jay, who just shrugged and waved them off.

“Nah I’m good. I’ll come find you guys after it’s over.” He gave them a thankful smile then turned around, walking into the tent’s entrance with Lucina. This finally left Robin and Chrom alone. She’d been picturing a scenario like this for the past couple of months, but Robin found that she just couldn’t enjoy it – the events of the last week weighed heavily on her mind, especially her confrontation with Stahl earlier that day.

“You actually wanna go get some food or…?” The deep voice that would usually give her shivers at this proximity only pulled her attention from her thoughts, turning her gaze back up to the blue haired boy wonder as he fixed those same dazzling cerulean eyes on Robin. She glanced around, appetite souring at the smells that continued to affront her senses.

“Can we just go find a place to sit down or something? I’m not feeling too hot.” Robin pulled on the edge of her jacket, biting her lip as she looked through the thinning people to see if she could spot a bench. Chrom hummed and followed suit, his taller figure giving him a better vantage point.

“I think there’s a spot over there.” He pointed in the opposite direction of where Kjelle and Cynthia disappeared. The route was flanked mostly by various food stalls rather than the other smaller tents showing movies that were littered around the place. After a nod from Robin, Chrom began leading the way.

There seemed to be less people around than when they arrived, presumably because night was fast approaching and most of the main showings were ending. It afforded the pair a lot faster travel than when the trio had first entered the festival. Skirting along the venders who had sold most of their wares for the evening, Robin saw a single, empty metal bench come into sight. Before Robin could make a run for it to rest her feet however, Chrom stopped at the last stall in the line. She looked up at the sign and saw they were selling slushies.

“You want one?” Chrom raised his eyebrows to her, already reaching some money out of his pocket. The concept of flavoured crushed ice was sounding particularly attractive to Robin considering the heat radiating from around her. She almost missed the cold, wintery weather they’d been experiencing recently.

“Sure. I’ll take a strawberry.” Robin went to grab some of her own coins from her purse but before she could, Chrom put down his money in front of the vendor.

“Two, please. One strawberry and one raspberry,” He requested politely. The vendor nodded, took the money and turned around to work the ice and syrup machines, sliding the little paper cups of red and blue crushed ice over the counter. “Thanks.” Chrom gave them a smile and took the slushies in his hands, returning to his stride towards the bench. Robin raised an eyebrow at his kindness but said nothing, simply following behind. Soon enough they reached it and sat down in silence.

It was quiet in this nook of the field – the only people around were the festival-goers walking past to their next destination, leaving Chrom and Robin almost completely alone. She looked down at her slushie. Robin took the plastic straw that came with it and began pushing around the shaved ice, creating nonsensical trails in the pink strawberry syrup. This was almost like a date. You know, boy paying for the girl’s food then going to sit alone and talk. Seemed like something you’d see in one of Chrom’s sappy rom-coms. She glanced up at him, currently preoccupied with slurping up his own slushie through a straw, and considered the possibility. Just Robin, alone with her handsome crush, drinking a cup of flavoured ice he’d bought her…

_It’s nice for you to get that close to Chrom, isn’t it?_

Robin sighed and leaned back on the bench, closing her eyes. The magic wasn’t working. It _was_ nice to get close to Chrom. Past tense. As in, any day before today. Dammit, of all the days for Stahl to throw her off why’d it have to be this one? She closed her fingers around the numbing cold of the paper cup to try and forget the sensation of his hand on hers, little droplets of condensation wetting her palms.

“Something up?” Chrom’s question made her eyelids flutter open to see his concerned expression. He leaned one elbow on the back of the bench, turning his posture to address her properly. Robin shifted uncomfortably in her spot, pulling herself into a proper sitting position, leaning forward slightly over her cup.

“Yeah. I’m okay.” She lied weakly.

“You don’t seem very okay.” Great. If someone as oblivious as Chrom could see that then she must _really_ look like crap. She glanced at him again to see his prominent frown, stormy eyes darkened with the apparent burden of her troubles.

“I’ve just… Been dealing with a lot lately,” Robin shrugged, pushing around more of her slushie. It had already begun to melt thanks to the additional heat of her hands. “With Jay’s film and stuff.” She quickly added.

“You shouldn’t be troubled by it. You’re a very capable person.” He gave her a small smile. Robin stared at him, unable to believe he’d just _actually_ complimented her. Did that mean that Chrom actually liked her? Was he hitting on her right now?

“Thanks… Ha, I must be really impressive if you think that after only two months.” She gave a very fake laugh, wondering why her cheeks weren’t heating up or her heart beating fast. Chrom stayed quiet for a while after that, staring at nothing as he brooded on her answer. He finally sat up and exhaled a long breath, steely determination glinting in his eyes.

“Do you really not remember how we met?” Robin blinked at the strange question.

“Yeah? You showed up at our front door on my first day of school.”

“No no, how we _really_ met,” Chrom set down the slushie next to him and fixed his full attention on her. Robin just looked even more confused. If she’d met him before then there’s no way she would’ve forgotten. He clicked his tongue at her silence. “That’s a no then.” He reached a hand up to scratch the back of his head.

“Okay now you’ve lost me.” Robin didn’t even have the energy to fake another laugh, instead sighing again and leaning back on the bench, finally taking a sip of her melted slushie. It was cold and much too sweet. Chrom directed his full attention to her again.

“Alright, I thought you knew, but the first time I saw you was four years ago,” He elaborated, gesturing vaguely with one of his hands as he explained. Robin knitted her brows together. That would’ve made her twelve, and in the first year of Plegia secondary school. Also a year after their family had moved to Ylisse. That’d mean Jay and Chrom would’ve been in their second year of secondary school… She didn’t remember anything particularly interesting that happened that year. “It was at one of our school’s football matches.” Chrom prompted further.

“I think you must be mistaken. I’ve never been to watch a sports game unless it was for an article.” Robin insisted, narrowing her eyes.

“Yeah! Exactly! You _did_ write an article on it,” Chrom grinned and nodded fervently. “You interviewed me after the game for your school’s paper and a few copies ended up going around our school,” As he described the event a memory began to reform at the back of Robin’s mind. When she started out in secondary school she _did_ end up scouring their new hometown for stories to build up her portfolio so she could join their Newspaper Club… Of course, she was the head of it by her second year. Chrom’s grin dropped into a wistful smile as he continued. “I didn’t really have much confidence back then, believe it or not. Our family was going through a difficult time – it was when Lissa and I moved in with Emmeryn. But… The way people just started walking up to me and praising me on how I played that match…” He trailed off with a contented sigh, fondly recalling the memory. “…It made me feel a lot better about myself. That’s why I sought out your brother, actually. I heard he was a Finch too. So. Yeah. I have a lot of respect for you.” Chrom turned back to her. Robin could only stare at him blankly, trying to take it all in.

Wait did he just say that he _respected_ her? What the heck did _that_ mean? Did this mean she actually had a chance with him, or did he mean it from a purely platonic perspective? The thoughts jumbled up in her already muddled head.

“That’s why you let me start up the club?” Robin decided to backtrack to the start of the year to make sense of it. Back then he hadn’t acted the flustered mess he occasionally became around her.

“I would’ve anyway, but that helped. I’d no idea how actually good you were though until a couple weeks in. And when Jay told me about your mother…” Chrom trailed off as he took on an introspective expression. Robin’s interest perked at her mention. Jay never talked about her – as it was she had been surprised to learn that he’d told Gaius, literally his closest friend, about her. Chrom chuckled to himself as he finished his thought. “I felt a bit bashful, honestly. Some writing prodigy of some hot-shot journalist having written an article about _me?_ Though I feel kinda silly about it now considering you don’t even remember.” He scratched his neck awkwardly as his uncomfortable laughter trailed off. His words hit Robin like a train filled with hot red embarrassment. Dammit of _course_ he hadn’t been getting all flustered because he liked her. Ugh, who was she kidding?

“I see…” Robin muttered, disheartened. She pulled her attention back to her melted slushie and sadly took a sip. Just another one of her pointless crushes falling apart at the seams. “Too bad my ‘talent’ isn’t enough to get me out of this whole Stahl mess.” She wiped her mouth and took another few weak stabs at the sloshy ice. It was all very well and good being a newspaper writing prodigy or whatever, but if she let her emotions overrun her this easily then she couldn’t see herself doing well in the tough world of real life journalism.

“Is that what this is about?” Realisation dawned in Chrom’s voice. Robin glanced at him through the corner of her eye, seeing the open-eyed look of curiosity that blanketed his handsome features. What did she have to lose by telling him? Heck, maybe Chrom had some valuable insight on the boy. They both grew up together, right?

“Yeah,” Robin admitted, looking up from her slushie. “He’s been acting really weird the past few days, but he won’t tell me what’s on his mind.” She decided to omit the parts about the hand-holding and his jabs at her feelings for Chrom. The boy hummed lightly as he considered the information, then nodded sagely as he came to a firm conclusion.

“Stahl’s probably jealous. I mean, if I saw my girlfriend in the arms of some other guy I would be.” Chrom gave her a self-assured smile. Robin thought about that. Jealous, huh? She didn’t really picture Stahl as the type but- _wait a minute did he say girlfriend_. Robin dropped her slushie, red coloured ice splatting on the ground as her face became a similar shade of crimson, staring at Chrom with wide eyes.

“H-h-he’s not my boyfriend!” She sputtered, flailing her now empty hands about in a desperate attempt to try and dismiss the claim. Chrom narrowed his eyes.

“Wait. You’re _not_ dating?”

_“No!”_

“…Are you sure?”

“Yes Chrom I’m pretty damn sure.” Robin pulled at her hair in distress.

“Huh,” Chrom scratched his chin and shrugged, turning to her with a sheepish grin. “I just assumed since you were so close. Oh, and hang out with eachother all the time. And the way he saved you from that lake and gave you mouth-to-mouth-“

“Yes but that doesn’t mean we’re- _wait, what?!”_ Robin’s voice was reduced to a high-pitched squeak after hearing his last comment, face burning as she tried to force out the words. Chrom nodded enthusiastically, either unaware or completely ignoring her embarrassment.

“Yeah! I’d turned around the corner of the building and began running to you guys when I saw him-“

“O-okay you know w-what I don’t think I c-can hear this r-right now.” Robin covered her face with her hands, words muffled. Her cheeks felt like an oven.

“Alright, alright. I’ll shut up.” The low timbre of Chrom’s laugh cut through the sound of rushing blood in her ears. Robin peeked through her fingers to see him returning to his slushie. Still, Chrom’s estranged assumptions aside, the involvement of jealousy was very possible. But the question remained about the nature of that jealousy – was it the same kind of thing Robin felt when seeing him around Cordelia, or was it more… Intimate? Prior to today she would’ve said the former, but after he held her hand like that… Robin wasn’t sure. She didn’t know what to make of it. There was still far too much for her to process from this conversation.

“…Thanks for the perspective, I guess,” She struggled to pull herself free of her thoughts, offering Chrom a small but genuine smile. He raised his eyebrows at her. “And, uh, sorry for forgetting about you.” Chrom waved her off, shaking his head and finishing slurping his slushie.

“Don’t worry about it. It was a long time ago after all,” He gave her another wide grin, the edges of his teeth and lips stained blue. Robin had to bite back a snicker at the sight. Chrom then took a glance at his watch and slowly rose to his feet, glancing around as a few more people began to show up. “Speaking of time, I think Jay’s film just ended.” Robin followed suit, standing up and subtly edging around the spilled slushie dashed about on the floor.

Sharing a silent nod, the two began their walk past all the food stalls back to the front of the tent, watching as the previously deserted clearing became filled with chattering people. Among them were the pair of Jay and Lucina.

“Wasn’t that amazing? Those diverse camera angles were really well executed, and those prosthetics…! They looked so real!” Lucina marvelled, excitement peaking the pitch of her voice. Jay nodded but didn’t seem to share in her excitement, mouth pulled into a tight, restricted smile.

“Ha, yeah… They even got their own original score.” He added, his voice creaking in a weak attempt to fake enthusiasm. Lucina waved a hand dismissively and laughed.

“That’s nothing to write home about – it’s kind of essential, after all. It’d be weird if an entry _didn’t_ have original music.” Jay stopped walking as she voiced her response, just on the edge of the crowd.

“I don’t.” It came out as a mumble, but it was just loud enough for Robin and Chrom to hear as they approached. Lucina froze mid-walk, smile dropping in concern as she turned around to look at Jay. It was clear from her stiff posture and nervous eyes that she didn’t know what to say. “Hey Lucina, be honest – you don’t think I deserve to win this more than you, do you?” He looked up at her with a sad smile. Lucina shook her head and quickly tried to dismiss his claim.

“No that’s not true at all, Jay, I don’t think I-“

“It’s fine, I’m not mad or anything,” Jay laughed humourlessly, all of his cheer from earlier in the night soured and replaced with a thinly veiled sense of disappointment. Robin hurried her walk, stopping next to Lucina. “You’ve put all this work and effort into your film career over the past couple years. I mean, what have I done? I haven’t organised any plays or musicals, or made costumes, drawn a storyboard… Heck, I didn’t even write my own script,” He nodded to Robin at his last point. She looked at Lucina and the pair shared the same worried glance at where this was going. “All I’ve really done is make a silly little club and waited for an opportunity to be handed to me. Even then I messed up my own film so badly that I couldn’t function without my sister helping me out. And _then_ I caused her even more trouble.” Jay sighed, shaking his head, forced smile dropping into a crestfallen frown. Robin quickly took a step forward to interject his downward spiralling self-esteem.

“Jay c’mon, you know that doesn’t matter! There’s no way one person could do all that on their ow-“

“Yeah but I could’ve done better! I easily could’ve written up a story and a script so that you didn’t have to get involved! But I didn’t. Because of my own stupid reasons,” He snapped, the volume of his voice raising with each syllable. Jay looked between the two stunned girls. The lights were reflecting off the lenses of his glasses, only revealing a sliver of his golden eyes. Despite how little she saw of them, Robin instantly recognised the tears forming at the edges of their honeyed depths. “How could someone like me deserve something more than a person like Lucina, who’s worked so tirelessly? I’m just-“ Jay’s sentence got interrupted by a sob. Robin and Lucina both stood there, shocked into silence at this sudden display.

“I should’ve known I was in over my head from the start. Mum was right – all I’m good for is writing.” Before any of them could say otherwise, Jay turned on his heel and ran off, rubbing his eyes all the while. Robin’s heart broke at his words. Chrom appeared between her and Lucina, the same bewildered expression mirrored in his cerulean eyes. The blue haired girl looked like she was still trying to grope for words, concern creasing the space between her eyebrows as she stared blankly at the spot Jay once stood. Sharing one last worried glance between the two, Robin set off in an unsteady, desperate sprint after him.

For the second time ever, she was going to have to try and glue her brother’s self-esteem back together again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That awkward moment when Chrom is such a colossal dorkadactyl he cockblocks himself  
> ANGST ASIDE, today I must shamelessly plug a different Fire Emblem Awakening AU (FE:AU I guess?). Y'all should totally check out MaskedHooligan's 'A Matter of Leverage' - seriously it's AMAZING. Way darker than this and far more action packed for all your necessary thrills and chills P: Seriously it's soooo good. GO SHOWER IT WITH LOVE NOW.  
> Aight and for this week's title I'm sure most of you are aware of what a narrative climax is (ie. the part of the story where the energy is at its highest). Usually at this point everything's resolved but eh. We've still got more angst to trawl through yet


	19. Scene Five: Denouement

“Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Ja-ay…” Robin took a deep breath at the end of her song, her little nose scrunching up and her cheeks ballooning outwards. “ _Haaappy biiirthday tooo youuu!”_ She threw up her short pyjama-clad arms in celebration as she belted out the last line. Jay’s little sister jumped up and down beside him as she launched into another round of ‘hip-hip-hoorays’, short silver pigtails bouncing all over the place.

Jay laughed at her display, turning back to the terribly burned cake in front of him. The white and blue candle in the shape of a 10 flickered as he sucked in the biggest breath he could muster. Then, leaning forward as far as he could without burning himself, he blew on the exposed flame. The little orange flare flickered out immediately, leaving a stream of smoke to pour into Jay’s face before he leaned back out of the way.

“What didja wish for?” Robin chirped, golden eyes sparkling. Jay struck an exaggerated thinking pose and hummed, watching her curiosity grow until he laughed and put out a hand to mess up her hair.

“I’m not supposed to tell you that, dummy. You’ll ruin the birthday magic.” He grinned and turned away from her pouting face, removing the extinguished candle from his cake and plopping it to the side. The two had tried their very best to bake a good cake, they really had, but even after three attempts it had still come out as a huge burnt monstrosity. The young siblings had just shrugged and hoped that it tasted better than it looked.

“But you’re gonna waste it on something dumb!” Robin whined, stamping one of her feet. Jay rolled his eyes and walked past her into the kitchen, rummaging through the drawers for a knife sharper than the array of colourful plastic utensils their mother made them use.

“It’s your birthday next month so you can use your wish on whatever dumb thing _you_ want,” He retorted over his shoulder. Finally spotting a serviceable steel knife on the countertop, Jay stood on his tip-toes and ever so carefully reached over the polished wood to grab it. Smiling to himself, he walked back into the dining room with knife in hand, noticing the scowl on his sister’s face as he went to cut the cake. “What were you planning on using yours for, then?” He finally asked. She lit up at the question, frown instantly transforming into an excited smile.

“I was gonna wish for Laurent to start liking me!” Robin’s voice rose a pitch as she answered him. Jay couldn’t hold back another bout of laughter, having to turn his attention away from the cake to his little sister’s reddening face. “W-what’s so funny?! He helped me on a really hard maths question yesterday!” She squeaked indignantly, pulling her silver pigtails over her face in a vain attempt to cover the blush in her cheeks.

“Weren’t you crushing on that scary blonde kid last week?” Jay managed to stop himself from laughing and turned to start cutting the cake, smirk still present. He heard her huff beside him.

“Yeah but then he burst out crying in the middle of class after I accidentally messed up his art project. Who cries over a drawing of a flower?” Ignoring her weak reasoning, Jay slid the knife into the middle of the cake. It took a bit more effort than necessary thanks to the solid exterior, but after a few seconds of jiggling the blade back and forth he managed to cut out a decently sized slice.

“Maybe you should give him some of our home cooking.” He moved the piece of cake onto one of the plastic plates and passed it towards Robin. She gave it a wary stare, using one of the bright orange forks to cautiously prod at the supposedly chocolate dessert. She bit the inside of her cheek as she glanced up at him, one eyebrow raised suspiciously. It didn’t try to attack her – that much was a relief. The fact that the inside looked like an opened geode didn’t add to the appeal, however.

“No thanks. I think I’ll stick to passing him notes with heart drawings on them.” Robin pushed the plate away. Jay shrugged and began poking the piece with the knife, surprised to find that somehow the jam they’d shoved inside of it had already completely evaporated. Maybe they should just stick to microwavable porridge instead.

“Well now that the cake’s a bust I guess it’s time for presents, huh?” Jay tried to keep his tone calm as he made the statement, but he couldn’t stop the excited grin that spilled across his face. He’d been thinking of all the possibilities for loot for the past few days; he barely got any sleep the night before thanks to his wandering imagination. What if his mother finally got him his own camera? She’d said that she had gotten him something super special this year. Jay’s pulse quickened at the prospect.

“You’re right! C’mon, wait ‘til you see what I got you!” Robin grabbed his wrist and giggled as she pulled him along into the living room. Despite her smaller stature, Jay let her drag him into the room that overlooked the empty Plegian street outside their home. Robin let go of him and stopped in front of the empty fireplace. “Don’t look! You can’t find out about my secret hiding place.” She ordered, frowning as she pointed accusingly at him.

“Alright, alright.” Jay smiled and covered up his eyes despite the fact that he already knew she’d hidden his present in the dragon shaped vase next to the TV. He heard the sound of clanging ceramic, presumably from his sister rummaging around her ‘secret’ hiding place.

“Okay! Open your eyes!” After a few seconds Robin’s voice sounded from a foot or so in front of him. Jay pulled down his hands and opened his eyes to find a rectangle covered in bright pink ‘Hello Taguel’ wrapping paper a few inches in front of him, taking up his entire field of vision. Raising his eyebrows at her choice of gift-wrap, Jay took the gift from her and pulled it further away from his face to get a better look at it. The grinning, sparkly-eyed expression of his sister beamed up at him.

Jay turned the present around in his hands, instantly recognising it as the shape of a DVD case. Another smile flickered at the edges of his lips as he figured it out. Playing it up to Robin, Jay hummed exaggeratedly as he held the gift up to his ear and shook it, listening for any sound. He heard the distinct rattling of a disk smacking against plastic.

“Open iiit!” Robin jumped up and down excitedly, the suspense already getting to her. Jay shrugged and obliged her request, fingers tracing the edges of the bunny-clad paper. After a few minutes of struggling to find the edges of this terribly wrapped present, he decided to just grab a loose corner and rip it. A satisfying tearing noise filled the silence as he pulled back the gift-wrap to reveal the painted picture of a girl staring out at him overlaid with a bladed claw.

“You got me a copy of _‘Nightmare on Elm Street’?!_ ” Jay boomed in shock, eyes flung wide as he looked between his sister and the DVD cover. Robin nodded eagerly. “Robin, this is an 18! How the heck did you get it?!” He stared and pointed at the little red ‘18’ on the corner of the front.

“I asked Morgan! She said her dad had a copy that she’d give to me if I paid her to get another one. I used a couple months’ worth of pocket money to get it but you said you really wanted it!” She beamed up at him with an ecstatic grin, clearly pleased with his reaction. Warmth curled in Jay’s chest at her sincerity.

“…Thanks, sis,” He tucked the DVD case under his arm and reached out to place his hand on her head. Robin braced herself for another hair tussle, scrunching up her face, but her expression softened as he instead gently patted her head. Jay met her open eyed stare with a smile. “We have to watch it together tonight!” He laughed as her golden depths filled with awe completely froze up at his suggestion.

“N-no way! Mum won’t let us! She doesn’t even let us watch many normal films!” Robin insisted. Jay clicked his tongue in annoyance, glancing to the feeble pile of film covers neatly stacked next to their decrepit DVD player. She was right: their mother was somewhat of a technophobe, insisting that the written word was the superior form of entertainment and that movies could never tell a story as well as a book or newspaper article could. He’d argued against this until she begrudgingly invested in a DVD player, presumably to shut him up. It also acted as a good distraction for when she was away for long business trips. Things that were increasing in frequency and length, Jay inwardly noted.

“Then we’ll just have to wait until she goes away again!” Jay reformed his frown into a devious grin and nudged his sister with an elbow. The push knocked her off balance, but Robin just giggled as she fell onto the sofa. It was short-lived, however, as her laughter soon died away.

“Um… When is she coming home today?” She looked back up at Jay and spoke with an unusual hesitance. Jay gave her a reassuring smile, sitting down next to her on the plush brown leather.

“She called up yesterday and promised she’d be back by midday. Says she got me a special present.” Jay’s words fell out of his mouth with unceremonious zeal. Even the mention of this gift caused waves of excited shivers, his pale skin dimpling into goosebumps. The amazement was reflected in Robin’s golden globes once more.

“Woah! Really?! Do you think she’ll let you use her typewriter?!” Robin beamed up at him, almost as pumped as Jay was to find out what the mystery present was. Still, Jay couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at her unusual guess.

“You’re the only person who’d think that’s a good present. Why the heck would I want to use some old piece of junk like that?” The typewriter in question was the one their mother always carried around with her. In late nights as she sat alone in her office, the siblings often heard the sporadic tapping of keys and the drrrr-ding! of the carriage moving onto the next line of paper. She used it for all of her articles. This constant barrage of noise was enough to keep Jay awake a lot of nights, having to bury his head under a pillow to get away from it. Robin, however, couldn’t seem to get enough of it and would even lean her ear against the wall and listen intently to the noise of their mother working.

“Hey! That ‘piece of junk’ is what got mum so famous! She wrote all of those cool articles that got front page on all those newspapers with it!” Robin puffed her chest out, turning up her nose indignantly at her brother’s outrageous claims as if he were denouncing some important religious figure. “And someday I’m gonna get one and write the bestest article you’ve ever read and get on the front page of _all_ the important papers!” She shouted and fell back against the sofa, punching the air with a determined smirk and presumably imagining her fictitious fame.

“If that’s right, then you’d better actually start beating me in writing competitions.” Jay fired back at her. He poked her arm and grinned as she turned back to him, face transformed into a scowl.

“C’mon that’s not fair! You _know_ I can’t write all that made-up flowery story stuff,” Robin pouted and swatted away his hand. “I won’t need any of those dumb contests when I get to secondary school. Morgan says they have a newspaper there!”

“Does she now? I’ll keep an eye open for you when I move up. Maybe. If I feel like it.” Jay stretched out nonchalantly across the sofa, ignoring his little sister’s pleading expression. As it currently stood, the Finch siblings were widely regarded as writing geniuses in their school. That may have had something to do with how their own mother had been born and raised in Plegia, so naturally went to the same schools they were attending. Jay’s teachers fawned over him whenever they did any kind of creative writing exercises. So much so that they’d recently entered one of his short stories in for a competition. He got the letter a few days ago to notify him that he’d secured first place – a result that everyone around him, especially his mother, had been thrilled about.

Jay glanced at the clock above the mantelpiece. The roman numerals etched into its face told him that it was half-past eleven. Feeling another surge of eagerness sweep his body, Jay jumped off from his spot on the sofa, legs driven by manic excitement.

“D’you wanna go and wait for mum by the bus stop? She’ll be getting off soon.” Jay’s mouth twitched into a grin. Without waiting for an answer – which was almost undoubtedly a yes – he dashed out of the doorway and ran upstairs to their shared bedroom, rummaging through his drawers until he pulled out a satisfactory outfit. Robin appeared behind him soon enough and followed suit. The pair were dressed and ready in a matter of minutes, looking to eachother with the same sparkle in their matching honey eyes.

“Let’s go!” They both echoed simultaneously and dashed out of the room, little feet thumping down the stairs to the hallway. Jay pushed in front of his younger sister and stopped at the front door. On the floor was a card without an envelope, the image of a cartoon dragon with a party hat and cake wishing him ‘Happy Birthday!’ from the front. Blinking, Jay picked it up and opened it.

_‘To Jay,_

_I hope you have a good 10 th birthday. I wasn’t sure what to get you, so inside this card I’ve left you some money. Spend it on something nice.’_

Inside the crease of the card was a collection of notes equivalent to two hundred gold pieces. Jay stared at the money in shock, turning to Robin and showing it to her.

“Woahhh! Who gave you that?!” Robin gasped as soon as she saw it, staring with wide eyes. This was huge compared to the tiny allowance their mum gave them on a monthly basis. Jay shook himself from his surprise at her question, scanning the card again. The space at the bottom where people usually signed their name was blank.

“I’ve no idea.” He tucked the money into his jean pocket and placed the card on the stair bannister to remind him to take it up later. Shaking his head and turning back to the mission at hand, Jay resumed his jog towards the door and opened it up.

His run was interrupted as he saw the weather outside. He stopped on the front porch, short silver hair immediately soaked by the rain that thundered down from the dark grey clouds above. Frowning at this unexpected obstacle, Jay stepped back inside the doorway and turned to Robin. Typical - of all the days for the usually suffocating Plegian sun to take a holiday, it had to be this one.

“You’re wet.” Robin stated simply, pointing at Jay’s head. He blew one of his wet bangs out of his eyes.

“Do we have any umbrellas?” He closed the door behind him and shook his head like a dog to get rid of some of the water. Robin recoiled and put her arms up in front of her as raindrops went flying everywhere, turning around to rummage under the stairs. Neither of them had much layered clothing – rain was pretty rare in this part of the world. After a minute or so of searching, Robin returned to him with a closed black umbrella.

“Here! There’s only one though.” She handed it to him and glanced back to the closed door. Jay sighed and shrugged, re-opening the front door and unfurling the umbrella. It was pretty big – there was enough space to fit both the siblings under it without worrying about getting wet. Jay stepped outside and held the umbrella up, his little sister quickly following and ducking under it next to him.

“Alright then. Time to go meet mum.” Jay grinned down at his sister, an expression she mimicked as they began to step down the flagstone path to the front gate. After jiggling one-handedly with the lock, the waist-high latticed gate opened with a groan and the two skirted past it. They began making their way out of the empty cul-de-sac their house was situated on, following the slippery pavement to a busy road.

The sound of car wheels sloshing through puddles mixed with the pitter-patter of raindrops on the nylon umbrella canopy. The world was filled with varying shades of greys – a far cry from the varying mishmash of arid sandy beiges and purples that usually adorned the Plegian streets. Smells of fumes and wet tarmac filled Jay’s nostrils and churned his stomach, but despite the unpleasant dark atmosphere he pushed on down the road towards the local bus stop.

Jay had to slow down his walk as Robin struggled to keep up, her shorter legs making it more difficult to keep up with his strides. She gave him a grateful smile as she returned to the safety of the umbrella, pulling on strands of her hair to expel a few rain droplets that clung to them. The journey itself was uneventful – any conversation the siblings had was drowned out by the hustle and bustle of the busy roads. As a result, they resigned themselves to silence, following the familiar path and listening to the city noise around them.

It took about ten minutes to reach the sign for the bus stop. Jay’s arm ached from holding the umbrella for so long, switching hands as they got to the stop. There was no bus shelter – only a tall metal pole that hosted a picture of a bus and the timetable for the local public transport schedule. As they approached it Jay put a finger to the bus number their mother would be on and traced the arrival times. True to their mother’s word, one was due for 12 o’clock on the dot.

“Do you have a watch?” Jay turned to his sister, voice finally audible over the lull in traffic. Robin lifted both of her bare arms and shook her head. Oh well, it’s not like they needed it. She’d be here soon enough. Jay shrugged and moved behind the sign, figuring it’d be a good position to greet their mother when she got off the bus. Robin joined him to escape from the rain. They both waited quietly as they huddled under the umbrella, waiting for the bus.

A few minutes passed before Jay spotted the glowing orange of the bus’s headlights illuminating the downpour of rain. A smile sprung to his lips and he nudged Robin as it slowly approached the stop in front of them, the brakes squeaking to a halt. The siblings traded manic grins and quickly directed their attention to the doors as they folded inward.

The first figure out was an old lady, carefully making her way down the steps onto the pavement, guided by a wooden walking cane. Behind her was a teenage girl, headphones strapped to her ears and ignoring the world as she quickly hopped down and passed the old lady walking off the left side of the pavement. A pair of middle-aged men followed, talking amongst eachother about work or something. Jay’s hold on the umbrella handle tightened as the excitement kicked back up like a snare drum in his chest. He waited for the next figure to appear and descend from the bus doors, waited for his mother to appear so he could give her a hug and hear her wish him a happy birthday with her soft coos. Jay sucked in a breath not unlike the one he had earlier for his candle, preparing to shout a cheerful greeting to the woman they hadn’t seen for the last three days.

Then the doors closed.

The breath was knocked out of his lungs as the punch of disappointment hit his gut. He stared listlessly, watching the bus tootle back off on its route, heading to the next stop on its scheduled route. Jay squeezed his eyes shut and regained his breath. She was probably just running a bit late thanks to the weather. No doubt she’d be on the next bus instead, no need to get so upset about it. He looked down to see Robin’s brows scrunched in confusion as she stared up at him, silently asking him for an explanation.

“Mum’ll be on the next one,” He reassured her. “Maybe she’s busy getting us some presents from Ylisse!” He gave her a small smile. She lit up at the suggestion, eyes sparkling at the prospect of gifts.

“You think?!” Robin squeaked and jumped up and down on the spot, pulling on her damp pigtails. “Mum’s so cool!” She turned her eyes back to the road, the crease between her brows relaxed thanks to Jay’s words. He nodded absently then turned his mind back to the schedule. There was a bus every half an hour. He looked in the direction of the road that the bus came from, mouth pulled into a straight line.

_Please, prove us right._

They had no way of telling how long they were waiting for. While his sister had filled the time with fidgeting and the occasional one-sided chatter about her past week in school – specifically detailing events with her current crush – Jay had just stared down the road, anticipating the familiar headlights to come flashing through the thick layer of rain. There were a couple of fake-outs; two other buses that weren’t from the same line as their mother’s passed through on the way, dropping off various loads of people and picking up a couple of stragglers that had appeared to join their waiting by the bus stop.

Jay’s arm had begun to ache when the second of their buses finally arrived. His posture which had started to sag with every passing minute shot up straight, another ecstatic smile twitching the edge of his lips.

“Present time!” Robin chirped from beside him, tugging on the side of his t-shirt.

“Yep! Wonder what she got us?” Jay chuckled and nodded, watching as her eyes went wide as saucers.

“Falchion replicas!” She finally decided, forming her hands around an imaginary scabbard and miming swordplay, making her own swinging sound effects when she slashed at the air. Robin paused awkwardly mid-swing, the cheerful smile on her face quickly fading into a troubled frown. Her arms flopped to her side limply. “Or… I dunno, would that be too… Weird?” She laughed awkwardly, ducking her head so that some hair fell in front of her eyes. “Morgan says that I can be a bit much sometimes. They’ve got this cool ornamental sword but she says that it’s not even sharp enough to cut off butterfly wings.”

Jay stared at his little sister, eyebrows raised at her sudden change in demeanour. Since when did she care what everyone else thought? He internally reminded himself that she wasn’t just his baby sister anymore. Gods, she was growing up and their mother wasn’t even around to help her through it. Unable to find the words to respond to Robin, Jay turned and moved his attention to the bus as it came screeching to a halt in front of them.

The doors stayed open for a bit, the entrance empty of anyone leaving the bus. Jay blinked and looked up at the driver who was now visible from their spot. He was staring at them expectantly, as if waiting for them to get on. After seeing that they had no intention of moving, the doors closed, and the bus began down the road again. Jay’s shoulders sagged at the sight, momentary happiness quickly fading.

“The lines to the gift shop must be really long!” Robin announced, her vibrant outlook unfazed by their mother’s continuous absence. Jay didn’t say anything. Instead he just switched the hands he was holding the umbrella in and continued to wait, wondering what their mother had to be doing to miss not one, but two buses. Still, he didn’t want to jump to conclusions or upset Robin – the best option was to just stay put and see what happened.

“This kinda reminds me of the story you wrote for that contest,” His little sister piped up after a couple more minutes passed. Jay raised an eyebrow and looked down at Robin, her usual innocent obliviousness sparkling in her golden orbs. “You know! The one about the prince waiting in the tower! And the prince wanted to leave but he wasn’t allowed. Then he left anyway and the queen was sooo mad, but because he killed that dragon she ended up forgiving him!” Robin started imitating battle with her pretend Falchion again, making growling dragon noises as she did.

“Yeah.” Jay nodded and smiled weakly. They weren’t waiting for a giant mythical creature to fight, though. At least she wasn’t. He sighed and wiped some water from his arm, the wind beginning to pick up blowing some rain under the protection of the umbrella. No, his castle was everyone’s expectations – imprisoning him under bricks and mortar made of ink and paper; words and stories surrounding him in suffocating walls. It was a very comfortable prison, for sure, but a prison nonetheless. And he wanted nothing more than to get away from it.

The one thing that kept him from climbing down from his ivory tower on a rope made of bedsheets was his mother. His teachers would be disappointed if he decided to stop writing, but he’d be moving up schools soon enough anyway. Robin would probably miss his stories but she knew that his real passion was in movies – Jay really couldn’t see her getting upset at him for his decision.

His mother, however, was a completely different case.

Ever since he was old enough to scrawl his name in broken crayons she’d encouraged him to embrace the written word. Instead of reading him bedtime stories with colourful pictures and unbelievable characters she’d recount to him the daily headline articles from the newspapers. Heck, he started writing fantastical, improbable stories purely to get away from the realism she relished so much. Even after silently chastising him for this choice, she clung onto his abilities. Jay Finch was a writer – a prodigal story writer – a talent he inherited from his mother, they’d say.

But he didn’t _want_ that.

Jay had watched a film three years ago in class. It was one of the days where their teacher was ill, so a substitute decided to put on some random movie to keep the kids entertained. It was Walt Disney’s _‘The Little Mermaid’_ – the classic story of a girl who wanted to explore the world outside of her comfort zone so badly that she traded in her voice for a pair of legs. She even defied her dad, the literal king of the ocean, so she could go to the human world. Of course, she did it to find love, but Ariel’s plight still struck a chord with Jay. Ever since, he’d related films with this idea of getting away from his mother’s crushing expectations.

The clouds above them got darker and darker as more buses passed them by, the wind increasing in ferocity with each time the doors shuttered inward, leaving the pavement in front of the stop as empty as the last. Jay was getting cold, the feeling of hope he had every time he saw a new bus pull up had long numbed, replacing it with a disappointment too painful to describe. Despite this, however, Robin had remained optimistic.

“Wow, the weather must _really_ be holding mum up for her to take _this_ long,” She laughed, rubbing her arms to try and stop the shivers. “Oh! I know! She’s buying you a cake from one of those bakery things in Ylisse!” Robin nodded emphatically to herself and turned to Jay, cheery grin outstretched across her features regardless of her chattering teeth. The sight of his little sister’s unyielding faith in their mother shook something in Jay.

“We’re going home, Robin. It’s too cold to wait out here for mum anymore.” His voice was firm as he asserted his authority as the older sibling, brows furrowed to create as serious as an expression as he could manage. Robin whined and pulled on his shirt, but didn’t say anything to object as Jay began the walk back to their house. He was sure she was secretly relieved – Jay had to hold her arm and drag her along since her legs were so unsteady. Standing around for as long as they did probably took a toll on her energy, especially considering how she was running high on excited adrenaline the whole time.

The journey back seemed a lot shorter this time, though that was likely because it was blurred by the exhaustion clouding Jay’s head. He didn’t even have the energy to keep up his anger as they walked. Each step made his legs feel heavier, like someone had snuck rocks in his pockets when he wasn’t looking. When they finally got to their home they couldn’t even be bothered to close the gate behind them, instead collapsing in through the front door as soon as Jay unlocked it.

Robin immediately ran to the nearest radiator and leaned her back on it. Jay was about to join her as he pushed the door closed, but was instead distracted by the ringing of the house phone. Jay reluctantly made his way to the kitchen. He knew it’d be their mother – who else would be calling them at this presumably late hour? Part of him really didn’t want to learn what time it was. Then he’d be able to put a number on the amount of faith he had in her.

“Hello?” Jay hardened his voice when he picked up the receiver, the cream plastic smooth against the skin of his hand.

“Jay? Is that you?” It was the unmistakable lilt of his mother’s voice that met Jay’s ear. The phone made her sound tinny and distant, robbing it of the softness it should’ve carried. He was beginning to wonder if that was something he’d imagined.

“Yeah. It’s me,” He replied, trying to sound as neutral as possible. Trying to sound like she hadn’t just ruined his birthday. “Where are you?” Jay added the question that had been stuck at the forefront of his brain for the past Naga-knows-how-long. It was at this point Robin wandered into the room, stood leaning on the doorframe as she listened to one side of the conversation with wide, curious eyes.

“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry! But I can’t make it today,” The words Jay had feared sailed from his mother’s throat so easily that it made his own tighten. “I was originally going to write my article once I got home, but they pulled my deadline to today. But when it’s in the newest bulletin of _‘Ylisstol Weekly’_ with the same date as your birthday it’ll be worth it!” His mother’s explanation carried a cheer that didn’t reach his ears.

“Okay.” Was all he could manage with the lump stuck at the back of his throat. Jay turned to Robin and shook his head. She looked to her feet, the disappointment finally hitting her.

“But, seeing as I’m not going to be home to give it to you, I’ll tell you where your special present is!” The prospect offered Jay’s heart a glimmer of that excitement he’d felt earlier that day. He eagerly grabbed onto the line his mother had thrown him, using it as an opportunity to prove to himself that she really did care about him and that her expectations didn’t matter.

“Where is it?” Jay asked quickly. He heard his mother’s laugh on the end of the line at his enthusiasm.

“It’s in the bottom drawer of the desk in my office. I hope you like it and that you’ll use it as much as possible!” A smile pulled at his lips with his mum’s encouragement. If she got her that camera he asked for, then this definitely meant she believed in him. He had nothing to be afraid of all along. There was no castle confining him anymore.

“Thanks mum! I love yo-“ A beeping from the receiver cut Jay’s goodbye off, an indicator that she’d already hung up. Ignoring the momentary ache in his throat this caused him, Jay replaced the receiver on the phone and turned to Robin with a forgotten sparkle in his eyes. “She said I can have my present now!” Robin looked up at him and gaped, her mouth turning into her own little excited grin. Skirting past her into the hallway, Jay found his way to the stairs and ran to the first floor, not even bothering to hold onto the bannister as he jumped up two steps at a time. He got to the landing and glanced down the closed doorways, heading towards the one next to their bedroom.

Carefully pushing open the door to their mother’s study, Jay flipped the light switch on the wall next to the doorframe. The uncovered lightbulb flared to life and lit up the room’s contents in a sickly white. Stepping inside, his eyes flicked over the various books that lined the two huge bookshelves that covered the entirety of the left and right walls. They finally settled on the wine red rich mahogany desk pushed against the opposite wall from the door. Jay took a few steps across the carpeted flooring before giving in and rushing to the piece of wooden furniture, kneeling down as his hands quickly found the polished handle to the bottom drawer.

“It’s in there?” Robin whispered as she joined him on the floor, craning her head. Jay nodded without moving his gaze from the drawer.

“That’s what she said.” His fingers twitched on the thin metal handle. He could hear the blood rushing in his ears, adrenaline fully kicked in and making his heart hammer away at his ribcage. It was a decently sized drawer – she could’ve easily fit a camera in there. Their mother knew they never came in her study so it was a good pick for a hiding place. It’s not like she would’ve been able to carry an expensive camera around Ylisstol.

His grip tightened on the drawer as he steeled his resolve. Jay’s mother wasn’t someone who’d force him into a career choice at the age of ten – he’d openly voiced his interest in filmmaking since he was seven. While he’d kept writing, he’d made it clear to his mother that it wasn’t something he wanted to pursue as a job. Realising this, Jay pulled on the handle. His mother’s expectations for him would be symbolised by the contents of this gift, where she’d prove to him that she really… Didn’t…

Inside the drawer was a pen.

It was a glossy black colour with some writing in fancy gold script etched into the barrel. With a shaky hand, Jay reached for it and clasped it with his fingers. It didn’t feel real. There was no way she could’ve done this. He pulled the cap off to reveal the golden nib glinting in the harsh lighting of the study. It was a fountain pen. Beneath where it had been placed was a piece of paper, which Jay then pulled out to read.

_‘Dear Jay,_

_Happy birthday sweetie! I’m so proud of all you’ve done. I’m still impressed by how you came first in that writing competition! They put your entry in with all of the ones from the older schools too, you know! With this pen, I hope that you’ll be able to use that talent to write the best stories this side of Plegia. I have the utmost faith in you. Well done!_

_Love, mum’_

Jay crumpled the piece of paper into a ball in his hand. His arm shook as his fingers enclosed around the sharp edges, crushing his mother’s letter until it pushed into the skin of his palm. Throwing it across the room, he turned his attention back to the pen. Looking closer, Jay could see that the immaculate cursive writing read: _‘Jay Finch – Fantasy Author’._

A wave of outrage and devastation too intense to describe came crashing down over Jay, dashing any smidgen of faith he’d ever held in his mother across the shore of his subconscious. His jaw clenched so hard that he thought his teeth would shatter inside of his skull. Staring back at his reflection on the inky black surface of the fountain pen, Jay Finch had never before felt such a strong urge to destroy something.

He stumbled to his feet, ignoring the worried look in his sister’s big golden eyes. Everything felt numb save for the aching bitterness in his chest. Jay turned around and walked out of his mother’s office, a steady purpose in his gait as he silently made his way to the siblings’ shared bedroom.

“Jay? Jay where are you going? Is something wrong?” The worry in Robin’s high-pitched coos was blurred and distorted in his ears, blocking out any words that didn’t have to do with how his mother had just shattered his self-esteem. Jay shoved open the door so hard that it slammed against the wall behind it, then marched to his side of the room. On his desk were a pile of fantasy-themed novels: _‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’, ‘The Neverending Story’, ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’, ‘Northern Lights’._

Jay pulled them all apart.

In a frenzy of hurt and anguish, he took each book and pulled the pages and covers and spine and anything he could possibly tear away to vent his pain. Jay screamed all the while; a cacophonous caterwaul tore at the insides of his throat, creating a screeching aria of devastation as the floor around him became littered with fluttering pieces of paper.

When all of the books at his disposal had been ruined beyond repair, Jay turned to the rest of his belongings littered across his desk, throat raw. There were three of his framed certificates for various accomplishments in writing placed proudly under the curtained window. Flipping the fountain pen around in his hand, Jay smashed the glass covers on all of them with the plastic barrel. Painful globs of salty tears stung his eyes and painted his cheeks. With each cathartic shatter of glass, some section of his anger chipped away. He threw the empty frames on the floor along with the pieces of paper and numerous shards of glass and turned to the last thing on his desk.

The piece of paper announcing his 1st place in the recent story writing competition.

Jay took the lid off of the fountain pen his mother had gifted him, throwing it to the floor, eyes fixed on his next victim. The painful infliction that had taken hold of his heart burned as he leaned over to grab it. The paper felt like acid corroding away at his fingertips, bile crawling up his sore throat.

He crossed out Finch with jet black ink. Then Jay. Then writing. Then 1st place. Then everything.

The certificate was covered in manic black smudges when he was done. Not that Jay could see it – so many tears had welled up in his eyes that he couldn’t see anything other than blobs of vague colour. He took a step back, feeling the crunch of glass under his shoe. Jay put both his hands on either side of the pen’s barrel. Then he pulled. He felt the plastic give way in his hands with a satisfying snap, a copious amount of liquid flowing from the two halves and completely covering his hands.

All his energy now expended, Jay’s legs gave way. He rolled onto his side on the floor among the pieces of glass and paper and pulled his knees to his chest. The anger and frustration he’d felt had faded away, leaving him alone with his heartbreak. As his senses began to return to him Jay felt the stinging sensation in his hands. The ink from the pen intermingled with little cuts across his palms and fingers, presumably from a mixture of papercuts and grazes from edges of glass.

Jay cried. Violent sobs wracked his shoulders, the rough ache in his throat provoked further by the lump that stuck there. He couldn’t see anything. The world was a blur of tears and he could still only hear the deafening ringing in his ears.

It felt like the ultimate betrayal. He was just a tool to his mother – she looked at him and all she saw was his potential to carry out her legacy. And she didn’t even have the guts to say it to his face. He didn’t have needs. He didn’t have wants. He didn’t have _dreams._ Jay was a pen, just like the one she’d given him. His mother wanted to use him to write out the future of the Finch family.

He wasn’t going to stand for it.

Screw mum – Jay was going to forge his own destiny. He was going to hop down from his tower and find some dragon to kill, or some princess to save, and he’d do it without needing to return home to see if she’d changed her mind. Jay was going to leave that goddamn castle and never look back.

“Jay…?” The small voice of his sister infiltrated past the white noise. Jay squinted his eyes, pushing out some of the tears. Robin had laid down next to him on the floor and was staring at him with teary golden depths. When he looked at her she breathed in relief.

That’s right. Robin was still under _her_ control. There wasn’t anything Jay could really do to change the girl’s mind. She was a year younger than him, but still a lot more fragile than he was at her age. Their mother was her hero. Desperation stirred in his churning chest at this thought, shooting out one of his inky hands to grab Robin’s. His little sister froze in fear at the sudden contact and stared at him with those wide, innocent eyes.

“Robin,” He rasped. The pain still pulled at his throat, his voice hoarse as he addressed his little sister. The momentary panic passed from Robin’s eyes as she met his own. “Promise me something.” Jay begged.

“Anything.” Robin whispered, voice hushed as she strained to listen to his. A couple wet streaks paved pathways down her cheeks, a sight that only served to drive more daggers into Jay’s heart as his vision returned to him.

“Promise me… P-promise me you’ll be better than _she_ ever was. That you really _will_ write the ‘bestest article’ I’ve ever read.” The words ached as he pushed them out. Something akin to understanding flashed in Robin’s eyes at his words. She nodded emphatically, slipping her hand from Jay’s inky grasp. Black smudges covered the skin where he held her.

“Of course! And you’ll direct the bestest film I’ve ever seen, right?” His little sister pushed aside the pain and grinned, the sides of her cheeks straining with the stiffness of her words. Jay knew that grin was for him, and that it was the worst lie he’d ever seen. Jay nodded regardless, neck stiff from his awkward position on the floor.

“Right.” He strained. Robin returned the nod and lifted up her hand to him, all fingers curled in save for her pinky. Jay stared and blinked. Unable to bite it back, Jay mirrored the dumb grin Robin gave him. He lifted his sore, scratched hand and grasped her pinky with his own.

“Let’s promise to always make eachother happy!” Robin chimed, the emotion still dripping from her words. Another round of tears began to coalesce at the edges of her eyes as Jay joined in.

“Forever.”

There, amid the broken glass and torn-up fantasy novels, Robin and Jay shook hands to seal their pinky promise. As the evening was now coming to a close, the last dregs of light that shone through the heavy cloud cover died, leaving the bedroom in stark darkness. And the pair of siblings broke into sad, tuneless laughter as they cried and held eachother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry did you guys want actual plot? But how about a flashback instead that's totally better right who wants to learn about current Jay/Robin nothing interesting's happening there. OH ALSO guys I'm leaving on the 17th, so I'm hoping to get the last part of this arc out before then! If I don't manage to completely finish it by the time I move I'll probably work on it in the first week I'm in uni then start my hiatus, so don't worry if I don't update for a bit. 
> 
> Aight, today's title. As said this is when the names get a bit squiffy in relation to what's actually going on because there's only so many words to describe parts of a narrative xD Denouement is usually the last scene - somewhere after the climax. Everything's chill and all the loose ends are tied up. So while it does give an explanation to a big factor in this arc (i.e. why is Jay so fixated on doing this film and why he doesn't write like Robin) we've still got a whole other part to go to resolve all this insanity. I hope you guys stick around to find out what that resolution will be :P


	20. Scene Six: Coda

“Jay…? Are you getting up? School starts in twenty minutes,” Robin called from the hallway. When she got no response, she knocked gingerly on his bedroom door and opened it a crack, peeking her head in. Her brother hadn’t appeared to move since she came to see him half an hour prior.

He shifted under the mass of duvet covered in generic geometric shapes to tiredly wave an arm at her. “I’m not going in today,” Jay mumbled, his arm quickly receding back to the comfortable safety of his bed. Feeling her heart sink a few centimetres, Robin silently crept into his room and closed the door behind her.

“C’mon, I’m sure you’d feel better if you saw everyone,” she encouraged him with as much pep as she could manage. “We can just go in and try not to focus on the film for today. I can get Chrom to stop the others from asking, if that helps.” Robin sat down on the edge of his bed and conjured up a sunny smile to the lump of duvet where Jay’s head should be. Feeling her gaze, Jay pulled down his covers to grace her with a sleep crusted look from her brother’s golden eyes.

“You can stop pretending, Robin. That fake smile is starting to creep me out.” Despite not even having his glasses on, Jay saw right through her. Robin’s happy demeanour immediately dissipated. It left her with the familiar hallmarks of worry – the bags under her eyes and the creased lines on her forehead revealing the true nature of her current turbulent emotions.

“Could you at least think about it?”

Jay yawned and shuffled under his covers, kicking them off as he rose to a sitting position. “The problem is that I _am_ thinking. Thinking about how stupid I am.” He reached across to the desk to grab his glasses and affixed them on the bridge of his nose.

“You’re not stupid,” Robin insisted, brow scrunching into a frown as she tried to deflect her brother’s self-derogatory remarks. Jay cast a single golden globe to her, eyebrow raised. She continued, “So what if you haven’t done all the stuff Lucina’s done? You’ve still worked really hard on your film an-“

“It’s not just about Lucina!” Jay interrupted and threw his arms up in exasperation. Blinking dumbly, Robin could only stare at him as he rubbed his temples and sighed.

“Then what _is_ it about?” She half whispered the question, somewhat afraid of the answer.

Jay shifted his full attention to her, his stern expression wrinkling the spot between his eyebrows and giving his eyes a harsh, steely quality. “Me. Believing our mother was wrong,” he responded, voice low. Pulling his gaze away from Robin, Jay set his mouth in a tight line. The fingers of one of his hands curled tightly around a handful of his bedsheets.

Robin didn’t know how to reply to that. Her lips went dry at the mention of their parent. This was a topic that the siblings never talked about; the one thing they could never agree on. To Jay, their mother was a cold, heartless robot who only seemed to keep them around for convenience and her legacy’s sake. Conversely, Robin saw her as a shining role model – her work ethic and ability drove Robin to reach as high as she could in her journalistic endeavours.

“You _were_ a very talented writer,” Robin admitted quietly, looking down at her lap. She could feel Jay’s attention snap to her. “B-but you’re just as good a filmmaker!” Waving her arms spastically in denial, Robin met her brother with a guilty smile in a vain attempt to reassure him. The briefest flash of malice flickered out in Jay’s eyes. “…You should just do what makes you happy,” she finished, relaxing her arms by her sides.

Jay snorted at her comment. “Yeah. And that’s working out just _great_ for me. Maybe if our mother actually used a spare moment of her oh-so-busy day to help me achieve my lifelong dream then I wouldn’t be like this.”

“Okay, Jay, you’re being really unfair right now. She works that hard _because_ she’s trying to help us,” Robin scowled at her brother’s passive aggressive ranting. He rolled his eyes. Sighing irritably, Robin crossed her arms and clicked her tongue. This wasn’t getting them anywhere. A long silence passed as the siblings struggled to push past their heated debate, the faint light of morning beginning to drift in through the cracks in Jay’s blinds.

“Five hours,” he finally whispered, his tone surprisingly solemn. Robin blinked and looked over to Jay, unable to see his face from her perspective.

When he didn’t continue, she prompted, “Five hours for what?” Jay exhaled and turned his head up to fix his gaze on the ceiling. The previously heated molten cores of his eyes had cooled, leaving nothing but a sad glimmer of brokenness in the cracks on its hardened surface.

“That was the amount of faith I had in our mother. How long we waited for her on my tenth birthday,” he explained, lips upturned in a melancholic smile as he turned to look at her. “I’ve no doubt that you would’ve waited forever.”

Robin rose to her feet and made her way to Jay’s door. “I don’t care what you think about mum,” her voice cracked with badly hidden frustration. “And _you_ shouldn’t care what _she_ thinks about your movies.” Without turning around to look at him, Robin strode out the door and slammed it behind her. A couple of bitter tears pricked at the sides of her eyes as she stomped down the stairs and grabbed her schoolbag.

Gods, he was so _impossible_ when he acted like this. No matter what Robin said he’d find a way to turn it around and use it to fuel his current state of self-loathing. Naga knows he had a lifetime of material to use against their mother – makes sense she’d be the main driving point of his current low mood. Robin had no idea she still bothered him that much.

She paused as she reached the bottom of the staircase. Glancing back up the stairwell, the irritation drained from Robin’s enflamed throat. Hiding in their room, refusing to go to school, twisting around words of encouragement for their own ends… Yeah, Robin used to be like that. For a long while. And who was it that pulled her out of that?

Jay. It was always Jay.

It took him five hours to give up on their mother, but after months he still didn’t give up on Robin. He came in to talk to her every morning to try to reassure and help her – Jay didn’t stomp off in frustration after one day. He kept at it until he pulled Robin out of that dark place and back into sunshine; until she had faith in herself again.

Robin turned away from the stairs and walked towards the front door with a purposeful gait, determination fuelling the flame of resolve kindling in her chest. She wasn’t as good a sibling as Jay was. Robin wasn’t patient or kind or funny or knew the right thing to say when things got rough. But – Naga as her witness – she was going to do all she could to get Jay back into the world where he could see how amazing he was. Just like he’d done for her.

And she was going to start by finishing his godsdamned film.

Shoving on her shoes and grabbing the handle of the front door, Robin pulled it open and went to step out into the new day. She was stopped, however, by a certain ginger haired candy enthusiast who’d paused mid-knock. Robin managed to catch herself before she walked right into his chest, looking up at Gaius as his expression of mild surprise morphed into his signature feline grin.

“Mornin’ Squeak. Couldn’t wait to see me, eh?” He chuckled, a muffled crunch sounding as his back teeth clamped down on a piece of hard candy.

Robin rolled her eyes and leaned on one side of the doorway. “Yeah, yeah. Practically tripping over myself to greet you,” she retorted.

Gaius’ chuckle only rose in volume at her reaction. Although it faded quickly as he looked over her shoulder to see that no one was behind her. “…Bubbles not with you?” His face hardened, flicking his sharp, leaf green eyes back to Robin.

Her face froze awkwardly, lips pulled into a pensive line. “Jay’s not. Uh. Coming into school today,” she coughed and looked away. The short silence that followed was thick with a sickly tension.

“Something happen last night?” The boy’s voice lacked the teasing edge it held a few seconds prior. Robin looked back at Gaius to see the concern that had creased the space between his eyebrows, any other joking quips he had planned dying on his tongue at her words.

Robin gulped as she tried to explain, “After Jay went to see last year’s winner he kinda freaked out and said about how his film wasn’t as good. Then when he discussed it with Lucina he remarked how he hadn’t been working as hard as she had.” She looked away from his prying feline slits and pulled on a strand of her silver hair nervously. “And… He’s gotten it into his head that he’s not good at filmmaking,” she finished, voice wavering as she recalled the sad look on her brother’s face when he recounted that birthday.

Gaius looked at her, brows scrunched in confusion. “Why does he think he’s not cut out for the movie biz?” _Because mum never saw any value in anything other than writing,_ she remarked inwardly.

“Because he hasn’t got any faith in his own abilities,” Robin instead said. The ginger boy regarded her words curiously for a second, then shrugged and instead turned around and began walking down the familiar path leading out of their front patio.

“Looks like we’re just gonna show him that the rest of us do.” Gaius tossed a smirk over his shoulder. His words pulled at the side of Robin’s lips, another bout of hope further feeding the fire in her chest.

She ran to catch up with Gaius. “My plan exactly!” Robin chirped as she began walking at his side, the both of them beginning down their route to school.

The ginger haired boy offered another grin at her enthusiasm, twirling a green lollipop in one hand. “Yeah? And what are the details of this ‘plan’ exactly?” He inquired, popping the glossy sweet in his mouth.

“We finish his film,” she stated matter-of-factly. Gaius raised his eyebrows at her response, a reaction that made Robin’s lips twitch into a quirky grin.

Glancing up at the layer of murky light grey clouds above them, the boy seemed to roll the thought around in his head. “He’d already started editing the scenes we’d filmed together on the Film Club’s computer… All we’d need to do is film the rest by Sunday, take the computer home and finish cutting it together,” Gaius nodded, a solid framework for this plan forming in his head.

“And get some original music!” Robin added, remembering how Jay had made a Big Deal about it last night.

He cast her a curious look but didn’t question it. “Alright then! We’ll get everyone together at lunchtime and figure out how the hell we’re gonna manage this,” Gaius chuckled as an endearingly shifty smirk spread across his features, a spark lighting up his green orbs and transforming them into devious emeralds. Robin couldn’t help but mirror his enthusiasm with her own smile. “I’ll tell Blue. You grab Pinkie and make sure she comes too, yeah?” Raising his eyebrows expectantly at her, Gaius began to break away from their pair as they neared the school gates.

Robin nodded firmly. “Right!” She gave him a mock salute as they walked onto the school grounds. Gaius chuckled and returned it before he turned off towards his form class. Snapping her attention back to her surroundings, Robin finally noted that the space around her was mostly devoid of teenagers. Darn, she’d probably spent a while fussing over Jay. Beginning a brisk walk in the direction of her own class, Robin quickly sped her way past the remaining loitering students. She reached the door and burst through it just before the bell went.

A few of the seated people gave an uninterested glance to Robin, but most were still too engrossed in their own conversations to care. Spotting the familiar mass of pink hair, Robin deftly made her way around the tables and sat in her chair next to Olivia.

The Feroxi jumped at her sudden appearance and pulled on one of the loosened threads of her tattered scarf. “G-good morning Robin,” she stuttered, offering a small smile to her friend. Before Robin could reply to her greeting, Olivia’s soft features sharpened as a frown pulled down the sides of her lips. She pointed to the empty seat beside Robin. “Um, J-Jay…?”

Robin blinked and followed her gaze. “Oh! He’s not coming in today,” she laughed exaggeratedly, only making her chipper tone sound faker. Wow, everyone really did notice when Jay was gone. Thinking about it, Robin wasn’t sure if the boy had _ever_ missed a day of school. Olivia regarded her with those big, violet eyes and said nothing. Robin immediately cracked. “…Jay’s having kind of a crisis. So we’re going to finish off his film for him to cheer him up!” She offered a weak thumbs up. “Which means I’m gonna need _you_ to come to the Film Club lunchtime. We need to sort out how we’re going to film without, y’know, a director.”

The Feroxi nodded emphatically, excited at the prospect of more opportunities to perform, then paused. “L-lunch…? Will the p-paper be done by then..?” Olivia inquired carefully, enunciating her words slowly.

“Eh, I’m just waiting on Stahl’s article.” Robin waved a hand dismissively, paying no mind to anything that didn’t have to do with her brother’s situation.

“H-have you spoken to him r-recently…?” The pink haired girl pressed, still unaware of the events from the past few days. Heat came to Robin’s cheeks as she recalled her last encounter with Stahl – the way he looked at her, the way he held her hand, and what Chrom said last night…

“Yes,” she squeaked, looking away from her friend.

“A-and…?”

“It’s complicated,” Robin sighed.

Olivia cocked her head to one side, pink braids bouncing at the movement. “Even m _-more_ complicated?”

“Infinitely so.” Swallowing her embarrassment and mentally willing the blush from her face to fade, Robin turned back to Olivia with a tired frown. “But if it makes you get off my back, I’m going to try and talk to him today. I think I finally have an idea of how he feels,” she mumbled, fiddling with a strand of her silver hair.

Stahl was jealous – that much Robin was almost sure of, thanks to Chrom’s contributions last night. The nature of that jealousy, however, was still a mystery to her. It was hard enough to read the guy’s feelings, let alone their motivations. There were only two explanations: either he was jealous because she was his closest friend (that Robin was aware of) and had now been spending more time with someone else – much like how she felt toward Cordelia – or… Well, that or he liked her. In a romantic way. And naturally that meant he wouldn’t be too fond of her hanging around with the guy she’s openly smitten with.

Or, was. Chrom was a great guy, but as of the festival Robin’s feelings for him had dulled substantially. Mostly because she realised he didn’t like her, but also partially because those events with Stahl were starting to cloud her head. What if Stahl _did_ like her? What was she supposed to do then? Robin had never looked at him in that way. Those times where her heart jumped when he touched her… She was almost sure those were because of the heat of the moment. Nothing substantial. Robin didn’t dislike him or anything, but if his feelings for her were deeper then she wasn’t sure how they could continue being so close.

“Y-you’ll have to talk to h-him afterschool, then,” Olivia commented. Robin turned to her and blinked dumbly, having completely forgotten what they were just talking about. Raising an eyebrow, the Feroxi elaborated, “S-Stahl. Film Club l-lunch, remember…?”

“OH! Right. Yes. I should. Yeah I’ll text him now,” Robin laughed stiffly, pulling out her phone and trying to ignore the estranged look Olivia was casting her way. Quickly unlocking it and locating Stahl’s contact, Robin tapped out a simple message to him:

_‘Hey could you bring the article by the office after school for me please? I’m busy at lunchtime again. Thanks!’_

She pressed the send button just as their form tutor walked into the room. The tall, bulky figure of Gregor muscled his way in through the door. “Hello class!” He boomed, immediately shutting off any conversation the students may have been in the middle of.

“Good morning, sir!” The class cheerfully replied.

Gregor seemed content with this exchange, nodding his head and smiling happily as he made his way to the desk. “Okay class, it is time to be having the register,” his accent curled the ‘r’s as he spoke. “Gregor is busy man and must be…” The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes and zoned them in on the empty seat next to Robin. His previously worn smile dropped into a frown, turning his attention to the next seat’s inhabitant. “Is little Finch boy not making with the learning today?”

Robin blinked and raised her eyebrows in surprise. Seriously, was her brother really _that_ popular? Even with the teachers? “Uh… No, sir. He’s not feeling very well…?” Her voice went up a pitch on the last sentence. In all her sixteen years of existence Robin still hadn’t gotten the hang of making even a slightly convincing lie.

Regardless of her terrible excuse, Gregor shrugged and turned back to the register. “Whatever you say, tiny bird child.” Even as he began to call out names, Robin could still hear faint whispers behind her.

_“Has Jay ever missed a day of school before?”_

_“Weird. Hope the guy’s okay, he always lends me notes in Media.”_

_“It must be pretty serious for him to not come in.”_

Robin sunk down in her plastic chair a few inches. Not only did this prove the amount of severe stress he was under, it also showed how many people seemed to care about her brother. If only he could look past their mother, he would see the overwhelming support coming from everyone else. Robin furrowed her brows into a scowl, another heap of motivation to add to the fire in her chest.

She was going to do everything in her power to open his eyes.

* * *

The halls were filled with students rushing to lunch, all walking at a brisk pace in the vain hope that they’ll be able to beat the queues for food. Robin saw a maelstrom of faces as she strode against the grain. A couple times she got accidentally shoved aside from wayward elbows belonging to oblivious teenagers, leaving the walk to the Film Club room similar to wading through thick porridge.

When she finally reached the all too familiar hallway the majority of the initial lunch rush had died down. Stepping around the few remaining wayward stragglers, Robin finally managed to get to the club’s door and push her way into the room. The usual suspects were stood waiting: Gaius, Chrom and Olivia. Acutely aware that she was the last one to come in, Robin smiled weakly and walked over to where the three were talking. Well, it was more just Chrom and Gaius. Olivia stood awkwardly to the side, attention enraptured by her threadbare scarf.

“Heyyy guys,” Robin started awkwardly, lingering on the outside of Gaius and Chrom’s conversation. The two boys paused and glanced over to her. “So uh… We got any… Plans yet or anything…?” She tittered nervously and noted the uncertain glance Olivia gave her.

Gaius cleared his throat and put on his usual self-important smirk. “Sure, sure! ...Of sorts,” he began, putting his hands into his jean pockets. “If you count planning to make a plan as, in itself, a plan.”

“We can film the rest of the scenes tonight and tomorrow, and between Gaius and me we could find a way to edit it all together on the club’s laptop,” Chrom interjected, a small sheepish smile tugging at the side of his lips as he explained.

Robin nodded encouragingly. “Great! And since Jay’s not here I can help with direction on the scri-“

“Th-there’s no one to direct…!” Olivia’s squeak silenced Robin’s celebration mid-sentence. The three of them turned to the previously silent pink haired Feroxi, a wave of crimson immediately flooding her cheeks as all the attention was drawn to her. Trying to cover up her face with the mess of disconnected threads that made up her scarf, Olivia directed her panicked violet eyes to her mary janes. “…The o-only other p-person who knows a-anything about d-directing is playing the l-l-lead…” The girl stuttered through her embarrassment while gesturing vaguely to Chrom.

Robin frowned and turned back to the two boys who were still amazed to hear Olivia’s voice. “Wait. Gaius, you’re in this club – don’t you know anything about directing?”

The ginger haired boy in question dragged his leaf green eyes from Olivia and shrugged. “Oh, I’m not actually a member. I just hang around here because Jay’s too much of a pal to kick me out,” he produced a strangely contented grin, removing one of his hands from his pockets and scratching his neck. Robin could only stare at him blankly. Why did they keep him around again?

Chrom finally snapped his attention away from the pink haired flustered mess slowly sinking to the floor in the corner of the room. “I actually had someone in mind… But I’m not sure if they’ll agree to it. So do we have any ideas for backup…?” The three of them looked up and glanced between eachother before all of their gazes rested on Robin. She blinked and met each pair of eyes head-on.

Feeling a surge of determination from her earlier resolve, Robin puffed out her chest and walked over to the nearest copy of Jay’s screenplay. “I’ll do what no one else can then – I may not know much about films, but I’m a Finch godsdammit and I can do any-“ Robin squinted as she eyed the first paragraph. Turning back to the group, she pointed at a line unsurely. “What does ‘diegetic’ mean?” A volley of sighs erupted from Chrom and Olivia. Gaius, pretending to understand, also sighed heavily.

“Looks like we’re just gonna have to pray for your first option to come through, Blue,” the ginger haired boy clapped Chrom on the back and pulled an array of gummy bears from his pocket, which he then promptly chucked into his mouth. Robin abashedly replaced her copy of the screenplay back in its pile. She wasn’t cut out for all this filming malarkey. The only thing Robin was any good at was writing – she didn’t know how to handle telling a story, real or otherwise, in any other way. Some sister she was.

“Sh-should we go f-find this f-first o-option…?” Olivia piped up from her spot in the corner, speaking through her pair of knees which she’d pulled up to her chest. Robin glanced over to the girl and then to Chrom, who was tickled pink to hear the tongue-tied Feroxi speak to him more than once in such a short time span.

“If I’m right, then _they’ll_ be coming to _us!”_ Chrom supplied an overenthusiastic grin that pulled unnaturally at the sides of his lips and went to lean on the nearest chair. Unfortunately for the boy wonder, this chair happened to be the only one in the room that had wheels. This mistake resulted in a sharp ‘oof!’ and Chrom being sprawled across the carpeted floor. Robin and Gaius winced vicariously at seeing the boy’s wipeout, but the display only earned an estranged eyebrow raise from Olivia. Robin took this moment to drink in the majesty of the boy she’d been fantasizing about until yesterday.

Biting back a laugh, Gaius moved over to try and pull Chrom up. “Easy there Blue! Don’t want you to injure yourself mid-shoot. I’ve no idea how to edit out bruises. Or broken limbs. Or pretty much anything that isn’t bright green,” the boy spat bits of artificial coloured gummy as he clasped onto Chrom’s arm. Despite a patch of carpet burn on his left elbow, the blue haired wonder seemed otherwise unharmed. Apart from his pride. That was shattered forever.

“Got it,” he winced, supplying Gaius with a pained smile. Chrom’s face had gone a shade darker than Olivia’s a few minutes before. Robin had to hide her mouth with a hand to stop from exposing the silly grin she was fighting back after watching her previous crush’s embarrassment. A part of her still sparked with an aching sensation of longing; a part that would be a lot bigger if not for the other mess of emotions currently charging around Robin’s subconscious.

Trying to get back on topic, Robin questioned Chrom, “So who did you have in min-“

 _“Is it true?!_ Is Jay really absent?” A small streak of green dashed in through the room’s door, catching everyone off guard. Robin suddenly found herself being shook by a girl a couple heads shorter than her. “Did I upset him?!” Nowi sniffed, big globs of tears congealing at the sides of her wide purple eyes. Robin was too shocked to formulate words. Hoping to abate the girl, she tried to shake her head, but was immediately interrupted by a high-pitched wail. “ _OH GODS I’M SUCH A TERRIBLE PERSON!”_

Without any warning Nowi buried her face in Robin’s chest, sobbing loudly into the cotton fabric of her shirt. Robin’s arms froze at her sides at the contact. She looked up and around the room in desperation to try and locate any help or meaning for the not-twelve-year-old attached to her. Instead, she only found Chrom, Olivia and Gaius frozen in the same variety of shock, staring blankly at Nowi as her violent cries were muffled by Robin’s body.

Robin slowly glanced down at the green haired girl. Trying to display some form of empathy, she carefully reached a hand to pat her head. “There… There…?” Robin’s tone betrayed her awkwardness. The girl’s tears were beginning to leak through her clothes and make her skin uncomfortably damp.

Finally shaking off his surprise, Gaius leisurely trotted over to Robin and Nowi. “Hey, kiddo, you want a lollipop or somethin’?” At the promise of sweets, the little green haired girl managed to tear herself away from Robin – leaving a giant wet spot on her shirt – and turned to Gaius. Tears and snot still streamed down her face.

“What f-flavour is it?” She sniffed, using her sleeve to unceremoniously wipe her nose. Gaius grimaced at the gross behaviour but still rifled around in his pockets, eventually pulling out a yellow lollipop.

“Lemon,” he shrugged and guessed from the colour, holding it out to her. Nowi took it from him and sadly popped it in her mouth, then hung her head.

Robin – still recovering from what just happened – walked around to stand next to Gaius and then addressed the green haired girl. “Uh, Nowi, why are you here…?” She began cautiously, not wanting to come across as hostile for fear of setting her off again.

Nowi rolled the lollipop around in her mouth, the stick bobbing from one side of her lips to the other, and looked up at Robin with her saucer-like eyes. “I-I heard that Jay wasn’t in,” she began, sniffing and rubbing her dripping nose. “And I figured it m-might be because of how I upset him by messing around with his film on the weekend because Jay Finch has _never_ missed a day of school and I really messed up and he seemed _so_ sad when he ran off after firing me so I came here to try and find out if it was true that he wasn’t in and it is and _now I can see that I’ve ruined his life!”_ After her long, breathless ramble Nowi burst into a fresh bout of tears. Both Robin and Gaius bit back the urge to groan. _“I CAN’T DO ANYTHING RIGHT!”_ She bawled, fat blobs of tears streaming down her reddened cheeks.

Chrom, who had been carefully watching the situation unfold, walked over to the three and knelt down so that he could meet Nowi’s eye line. “Hey, this isn’t your fault,” he reassured, reaching out a hand to pat her shoulder.

The green haired girl sniffed again, her waterworks quickly abating. “It’s not?” Her lip quivered as she spoke.

Chrom shook his head. “We went to a film festival last night. Something there really upset Jay, so that’s why he isn’t in. It’s got nothing to do with you,” he smiled softly.

“Oh! Good!” Nowi grinned back at him, placing her hands on her hips and puffing out her chest. Any previous sign of her upset had completely disappeared – her purple eyes dry and cheery. Robin and Gaius looked to eachother in mild disbelief, shocked at how Nowi’s mood could change so quickly. “…But how’s the film going?” Nowi’s grin faltered slightly as she asked.

“We’re actually having kind of a crisis at the moment,” Chrom scratched the back of his neck, commanding Nowi’s full attention. Her awkward smile pulled into a straight line as she waited for him to elaborate. “We were going to finish the film for Jay in the hopes of making him feel better… But we don’t have a director,” he explained, meeting her purple eyes with his own sincere cerulean ones. A moment of quiet ensued as the two exchanged a seemingly silent conversation between themselves. Robin glanced expectantly to Gaius, hoping to find some kind of meaning, but the ginger haired boy looked just as confused as her.

“I’ll do it,” Nowi finally broke the silence, childish features hardened in a rare display of complete seriousness. The green haired girl glanced between the room’s inhabitants – Olivia, Chrom, Gaius, and Robin – and broke her solemn expression with another wide, cheery grin. “I’ll direct Jay’s film for him!”

* * *

The rest of the day progressed without issue. Chrom’s green haired last hope came through for them – after soaking the front half of Robin’s shirt, anyway. Given her track record, however, Robin was doubtful whether this was going to go very well. When they brought Nowi onboard last time she didn’t waste a moment before ruining everything they’d already made. Could they really trust the same girl with the most important task in the entire filmmaking process? Especially considering how this was crucial to getting Jay to feel better.

Regardless, pretty much everything related to their plan to finish Jay’s film was in place... With the exception of the original score that he’d freaked out over. As everyone else already had their own roles to contend with, this left Robin with the task of finding someone with enough musical talent to produce a few original tracks for the movie by Sunday. This mission was a particular problem as the only person Robin knew who could play an instrument was Cordelia. That, however, was an issue for future Robin.

For now, present Robin pushed these thoughts from her head and tried to focus on her current concern: Stahl.

The bell for the end of day had just rung, meaning it was time for her to talk to her second in command about all the recent events surrounding their strained friendship. Normally Robin would be happy to continue as they were and act like nothing had ever happened – but she knew that wasn’t possible anymore. Things had changed.

A part of her wished that she’d never tried to look beyond Stahl’s façade in the first place. If she’d decided to leave him alone then she wouldn’t be burdened with the possible knowledge of Stahl’s feelings, or her internal confliction concerning her previous crush on Chrom which had nearly entirely dissipated already. Robin still regarded Chrom as a very nice guy, sure, but the usual rose tint that she viewed him through had faded. Whether that was a good or a bad thing, Robin was undecided.

Regardless, if Stahl really was jealous, it was Robin’s responsibility to tell him this change in feelings. She knew that pain all too well – she didn’t want him to suffer through that, especially not after his heartbreaking words after their last encounter. And admittedly a teeny-tiny-itty-bitty part of Robin wanted to see Stahl’s reaction when she tells him that she doesn’t like Chrom anymore. It’d at least give her a clue as to whether or not he _did_ actually like her. But that _totally_ wasn’t the main reason why she was haring down the emptying hallways in the direction of the Newspaper Club building.

Robin jogged across the uneven cobblestones of the school’s pathways, her pair of purple slip-on shoes ill equipped for the current terrain and speed. This caused the occasional wince to escape the girl’s mouth, but it wasn’t enough to deter the heightened adrenaline pumping through her system at the prospect of yet _another_ confrontation with the guy that had made her past two weeks so complicated. The long and wispy silver tresses that flowed behind Robin had returned to their usual stationary position framing her face as she came to a stop in front of the double glass door.

Pushing past into the ground floor of the building, Robin quickly made her way up the two flights of stairs to the familiar carpeted hallway. She didn’t dare hesitate for a second; Robin’s feet carried her to the open doorway of her clubroom without a spare moment to think about what she was actually about to do. Rounding the corner into the doorway, she took a deep breath and prepared to greet Stahl who… wasn’t… there…?

Robin blinked in confusion and stepped into the room. Empty. She then walked over to her desk to find Stahl’s finished article neatly stacked in the centre. She raised an eyebrow and examined it, finding that the printed out sections were still warm. He hadn’t been gone long. Stumbling around to the other side of her desk, Robin pulled out the rest of the week’s issue and gathered it up in her hands along with Stahl’s final contributions. If she was quick she could give the paper to Chrom and still have time to go look for that dopey, green eyed layabout.

Robin just _had_ to find him! She was _not_ going to finish this movie without resolving all of the insane crap the whole filming process had dumped on her. There was no way she was going to cope through a whole weekend of trying to cheer Jay up while being moody herself – Jay knew when she was lying. It’d be kind of an unconvincing final pep talk if Robin spent the whole time sighing wistfully about how in the end she couldn’t even get to the bottom of this Stahl business. I mean, she could wait until Monday, but two days in teenage drama years was like two weeks. She just didn’t have the patience.

After ordering the pages for the issue, Robin made her way back around her desk and out the doorway she’d walked in through seconds prior. As soon as she reached the hallway, however, her movement was stopped by her collision with Chrom. “AH! Chrom!” Robin squawked in surprise, the pile of papers almost spilling from her arms.

Managing to steady her just in time, Chrom’s surprised cerulean orbs looked from her, then to the contents of what she was carrying. “Oh! Robin! Is that this week’s newspaper?” He pointed to her papers.

Ignoring the vague tingling sensation in the places where her skin had touched Chrom’s, Robin nodded and essentially threw the issue into his arms. “Yeah! It is!” She responded with an overenthusiastic nod, unsure of why she was delivering her lines with such awkward vigour. There was a small gap of silence as Chrom tried to right the newfound weight thrust onto him. Robin glanced up and down the hallway impatiently, biting the inside of her cheek. “…Say, have you seen Stahl at all?”

Now balancing the stack of papers under one arm, Chrom slowly looked up. He regarded Robin with one raised eyebrow and the faintest ghost of a smirk. “Why? You need to ‘ _talk’_ with him?”

Robin immediately bristled at the underlying humour in his tone, her face going a bright pink as she indignantly struggled to refute any kind of suspicions he may have had. “Th-this has _nothing_ to do with what we talked about last night!” She stuttered, despite the fact it had everything to do with what they had talked about last night.

“If you say so,” he whistled nonchalantly to try and feign innocence. Robin could feel her face getting hotter by the moment. “But, I did see him walking in the direction of the music classrooms when I was making my way over here,” Chrom supplied with less of an impish sparkle in his eye.

Turning on her heel and dashing back down the hallway to the stairs, Robin threw a hastened wave and a goodbye over her shoulder, “Thanks! See you on set tomorrow!” The low voiced reply that boomed back was drowned out by the stomping of her feet on the wooden steps. It didn’t take long until she was outside and once again running down the bare cobblestone path towards the music rooms.

It was strange to Robin that Stahl had headed in that direction instead of just going home. After all, the boy didn’t take music as one of his chosen subjects, and the only other thing in that direction was the field that the Equestrian Club used. That was… Unless he was going to visit Cordelia? A sickening shudder passed over her as she recalled seeing the two on Tuesday. The thought tangled up with her previous ones about Stahl possibly liking her, leaving Robin with a dizzying churning sensation at the back of her throat.

_Right. Cordelia._

The memory of that event only seemed to make Robin more upset in light of recent revelations. Being jealous about matters regarding friendship was one thing, but _romantic_ jealousy…? That was a whole other field of hurt. Wait, why was Robin concerned about this? It’s not like she had a thing for Stahl. He had the thing for her… Right? Or was it Cordelia? Or was she just reading into everything too much and just making things complicated in her own head?! _Gah, this was impossible!_

Thankfully Robin arrived at the music block before her head could explode. Sighing and taking a few steps towards the building, the girl glanced around wearily and looked for any possible excuse to not go into it. And, weirdly enough, she found it.

Just past the block, right next to the field, was the lake that Robin was all too familiar with. Bordering the body of water was a newly installed knee-high metal linked fence. It wasn’t enough to stop someone from jumping over if they wanted to, but it did serve as a good safety measure for if – as a completely random and made-up example – some goof started walking backwards without realising how far away the lake was from their completely proverbial proximity.

To her surprise, not too far from one of the sides of the fence was Stahl. He was sat on the bare grass, long legs stretched out in front of him, and had busied himself with throwing stones across the surface of the lake. Since these weren’t the usual water smoothed pebbles used for stone skipping, the rather lumpy rocks he’d found around him on the field barely skimmed the blue-green skin. Instead, they met the water with a loud ‘ptunk’ and began a rather speedy descent to the sandy bottom of the lake. This hadn’t seemed to deter Stahl; he continued tossing the non-streamlined stones, each impact sending out an array of ripples in the calm depths.

Turning away from the path Robin had previously stuck to, she began walking out across the slightly damp grass. She watched as Stahl continued to empty the dwindling supply of rocks he’d gathered next to himself, the chilled autumn breeze tugging at stray strands of his olive locks. He didn’t seem to notice her approach. Reaching where he sat, Robin plopped herself on the ground next to him. She felt immediate regret as the moisture from the ground soaked through the pair of jeans she was wearing.

“Hey,” she began, voice mellow. Stahl practically jumped a mile into the air and dropped the stone he had just picked up, turning to Robin with hazel eyes as wide as dinner saucers.

He calmed slightly as he saw who it was. “Ah, hey,” he replied with a small, cautious smile. “Oh, if you’re here for the article I left it on your des-“

“Yeah, I know. I just gave the issue to Chrom,” Robin interrupted Stahl, getting straight to the point and mentioning Chrom to see if she could get a reaction out of him. And, once again to her surprise, she got one.

Stahl pursed his lips momentarily and turned away to the rock he’d dropped. “Mm. I see,” the boy sighed as he weighed the stone in his hand, running his thumb over the rough surface. “How’d that festival go last night?” The forced polite tone he spoke with was far more transparent than his usual façade. Stahl threw the stone. It whistled through the air then landed with an unceremonious ‘sploosh’ as it broke the surface of the lake. Was he finally letting her in, or was he just unable to keep up the act anymore?

Robin didn’t reply for a few seconds, instead thinking about the best way to approach the situation. Placing her palms flat on the grass either side of her, Robin leaned back on her arms and badly feigned nonchalance as she looked up at the wispy grey clouds crawling across the sky. “Terrible. It was an absolute disaster, in fact.”

His eyes darted to her for the briefest of moments before returning to another stone. “Really?” _Fwoop, sploosh._

Robin nodded sagely. “Yup. First of all, I learned that Chrom only acts weird around me because I wrote an article about him years ago.” _Fwoop, sploosh._ “ _Then_ my brother had a mental breakdown because he’s still worried about what our mother thinks of his chosen career path.” _Fwoop, sploosh._ “And to top it all off, this whole time the main reason that Chrom hasn’t been interested in me was because he thought I was going out with _you!_ ”

 _Fwoop,_ “Ow!” Stahl’s trajectory had dropped mid-arc, causing him to forcefully hurl the stone at his own foot.

Robin sat up from her position and hazarded a look at the boy’s face, unable to supress the expectant glimmer in her golden irises. “You okay there?” Stahl had pulled up one of his legs and was clutching his foot, eyes squeezed shut.

“I-I’m fine,” he hissed through gritted teeth. Robin scanned his face for any of the usual tells that indicated embarrassment – though she supposed accidentally bruising your foot was a good substitution for a blush. Stahl cracked open one eye and immediately noticed Robin’s blatant staring. They were silent for a bit as they locked gazes: hazel on gold. Then a smile began to twitch at one side of Stahl’s lips.

“…Did he really think we were dating?” He finally verbalised the question.

Robin quirked an eyebrow, surprised at how open he was about it. “Yeah. Figured we were because of how we’re always together and stuff,” she explained slowly, careful to leave out all the bits about possible mouth-to-mouth that may or may not have occurred inches from where they currently sat.

As opposed to any normal type of embarrassed reaction one may have after hearing that someone thought they were going out with the person they were currently talking to, Stahl burst into a roaring bout of laughter. “O-oh my gods that’s _hysterical!”_ He barked between staggered breaths, a couple tears leaking out the sides of his eyes.

Robin had to pick up the embarrassment slack for both of them and ended up turning a bright shade of crimson. “H-hey! That’s _not_ funny! My chances with my dream guy are ruined because I’m friends with you!” She nudged his shoulder, unable to stop her own smile from forming after seeing his surprisingly positive reaction. The whole situation was kind of silly, after all.

“A-are you _kidding?!_ That is just s-so ironic!” Stahl almost stopped himself but then started laughing again, clutching his sides as he struggled to stay in a solid sitting position. This was not helped by Robin getting to her knees and playfully shoving the boy over. So now Stahl was laid out on his back on the grass, in the most genuinely happy state she’d seen him in for the past two weeks.

Robin took a moment to just listen to Stahl’s laugh. It was a pleasant sound – one that soothed away the discorded orchestra that banged about on the inside of her head. She glanced back at his face and studied it. Little lines creased the sides of his eyes, scrunching when he smiled. The array of faint freckles that ran across the bridge of his nose seemed more pronounced in the sunlight. Then there was his perpetually messy olive curls, that one stubborn cowlick that bounced any time he spoke, that jaunty lopsided grin, those warm, hazel depths flecked with green that concealed so much yet somehow managed to always display the endless amount of kindness he offered…

Robin supposed that Stahl was pretty cute.

Not in the same ‘dreamy, strong-set jaw, dazzling smile’ way as Chrom, but in his own sweet and warm one. He just made her feel like everything was going to be okay, regardless of the state the world was in around them. That said, Robin now knew that most of the time it was just because Stahl acted like everything was fine, even if it wasn’t. But that just made it all the more remarkable. Where did he get that strength from? Was he really _that_ dedicated to making sure everyone else was happy? …Didn’t he care about his own feelings?

While Robin was chasing this train of thought, the boy in question finally got over his giggle fit. Instead of moving back to sit properly, Stahl opted to prop himself up by leaning on one of his elbows. His dozy little lopsided grin was on full display in the scarce autumn sunlight, angled up to his companion as she continued to space out.

“So, what’s the plan with Chrom then?” Stahl’s voice was its usual mellow drawl, lacking in the pain or coldness he’d displayed recently. It popped Robin out of her little bubble. She glanced down at him and scanned over his features once more. He did genuinely seem a lot happier… But there was something in the pitch of his voice as he said her ex-crush’s name. Or was she just imagining that?

It was at this point Robin realised she’d just stared at him instead of answering him. “Uhh, plan…? _Oh!_ Yeah you know what, I think I just might be over him,” she laughed awkwardly, a smatter of powder pink dusted across her nose now that she was finally admitting it out loud. Dropping crushes wasn’t an unusual thing for Robin – Jay would argue it was pretty routine – but at _this_ age… And openly owning up to it…? When Stahl blinked in surprise as a response it made her feel like a silly little kid again.

“Oh,” was all he could say, followed by an only slightly incredulous, “Huh.” He opened his mouth then closed it again, taken off guard by Robin’s change of heart. She continued her staring as he clumsily searched for words to say. This wasn’t exactly the grandiose reaction where Stahl gives away his alleged crush on Robin that she was expecting. In fact, it was barely a reaction at all. _Now_ how was she supposed to know his feelings behind his mysterious jealousy?!

“Well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t relieved,” Stahl chuckled humbly, running his free hand through his messy olive curls. His words instantly snapped Robin out of her spiralling thoughts, her heart skipping a beat and her face heating up even more. Stahl glanced to her, suddenly catching himself as he realised what he’d just said purely from the red in her cheeks. “...Because now I don’t have to worry about saving you from anymore lakes!” He hastily added. What would usually be one of his perfect lies was let down by his own light pink tint overlayed on top of his freckles.

There it was. The moment Robin had been searching for. The one time she saw past Stahl’s veil and _understood_ what he felt. And it wasn’t because of her keen perception skills or a sudden change in attitude on his part – it was because she’d kept trying to understand despite the numerous walls he’d tried to put up between them. She hadn’t broken through all of them, of course – this was just a crack in the plaster. But bit by bit she was going to tear them all down until she understood him completely. Even if that did mean Robin was going to have to deal with his potentially romantic feelings, because Stahl… Stahl was… Wait, why _was_ Robin doing this?

“So the whole Jay breakdown thing,” Stahl cleared his throat, hoping to draw attention away from his little mess up. It at least succeeded in moving Robin’s focus away from her increasingly intrusive rabbit hole of a thought process. “Are you doing okay?” He replaced his previously embarrassed expression with his familiar look of concern, scrunched brows and all.

Robin offered him a reassuring smile. “Oh, I’m fine. As for Jay… Me and the Film Club have actually made a plan to get him back to his usual snarky self.” Stahl raised his eyebrows, interest piqued. “I figured that since he’s bummed about not having mum’s support, we could make him feel better by showing him all the other support he has. So we’re finishing his movie for him,” she puffed her chest out proudly as she explained her (for once) sane plan.

The edges of Stahl’s lips twitched upwards at her display. “How’s that going?”

“Great!” Robin immediately announced, producing the ever obnoxious Finch grin. Which faltered as soon as she remembered something. “…Apart from one _tiiiiiiny_ detail.” She pressed her index finger and thumb together to stress how much of a small problem it was. Stahl didn’t believe her but he was nice enough not to vocalise it. “We. Um. Need a couple of original songs for the film’s soundtrack by Sunday. And the only person I know who can play an instrument is Cordelia,” she pulled on a strand of her silver hair and laughed awkwardly. “Which is an issue because it’s… I mean it’s _Cordelia._ ” Stahl Understood.

“Well I don’t think she’d be able to do it anyway. Preparing for the festival and all,” he smiled sheepishly at her.

Sighing overdramatically, Robin slumped her shoulders forward in an exaggerated gesture of defeat. “Typical. The one occasion that I _want_ to see her and I can’t.” She pulled up her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them, cheeks puffed out in a childish pout. Damn Cordelia and her successful music hobby. Ugh, even if she had asked for help the redhead would’ve probably turned her down anyway. Oh who was she kidding, she would’ve gotten Stahl to do it for her.

“Do the songs have to be really good?” Stahl questioned her, finally pulling himself into an upright sitting position.

Robin gave him a sidelong glance and shrugged. “Not really. I mean it’d suck if they were _awful,_ but it just kinda adds to the production value, you know?” She wrapped her arms around her legs and turned her head to face him, now resting her cheek on her knees instead.

Stahl narrowed his eyes in thought, the space between his eyebrows creasing as he contemplated something. After ten seconds or so of silence, Stahl seemed to make up his mind. “I could record some for you then,” his lopsided grin spilled across his features as he made the offer, one hand snaking sheepishly to the back of his neck.

Robin gawked at him. “You… Wait. Stahl?”

“Yes, Robin?”

“You can play an instrument?”

Stahl nodded. “Guitar.”

“ _What?!_ Since when?” Robin sat up straight, mouth agape.

Stahl bit back a laugh at her silly reactions. “I’ve had an interest since I was little. My older brother used to be in a band when he was our age.”

 _“You have an older brother?!”_ Robin squeaked, voice raising a pitch, which sent Stahl back into another giggle fit. While this did make another blush make its return to Robin’s face, she still felt accomplished learning not only one, but _two_ new things about Stahl. She was making good progress today.

Calming down, Stahl nodded at her again. “Yep. He left a few microphones lying around too, so I could record a couple songs and send them over to you,” he offered another one of his comforting smiles that made Robin’s chest feel warm.

“That’d… That’d be great, Stahl. Thanks,” she returned the smile, grateful that he’d go out of his way for her brother like this. Glancing up at the reddening afternoon clouds, Robin was reminded that Jay was sat at home all alone, presumably still miserable. The smile faded and dropped into a neutral line. As much as she’d like to stay and chat with Stahl, she had other things to be getting back to. “I’d better go home. Naga knows what kind of mischief Jay’s gotten upto,” she laughed emptily, pulling her bag back up onto her shoulder and slowly getting to her feet.

Just as she was finishing off wiping the worst of the offending grass stains from her butt, Stahl quickly stood up next to her and hastily exclaimed, “Wait…!” Robin looked up from the back of her damp jeans and gave him her curious attention. He opened his mouth then closed it again, seemingly losing his nerve as he glanced away from her eyes and instead focused on the grass below their feet. “Um, I just… I really wanted to apologise,” he began, using a hand to mess up his bedhead even more. “I’ve been weird and unfair recently and I don’t want to be responsible for anything that makes you feel bad… I am _so_ sorry.” There was a quiet, whispery quality to his voice. Stahl ducked his head and hid his eyes under a couple of his longer olive curls.

Robin cocked her head to one side and stared at him. “Stahl,” she spoke his name with a tone commanding enough to pull back his eye contact. Those hazel depths… Sure, they exuded the usual warmth, but Robin was beginning to see past those little cracks she’d made in his façade. In that moment she could see the genuine guilt leaking through and pulling at the almost undiscernible bags under his eyes. Wow. He really _did_ value other people over himself.

“You’re allowed to have feelings too, y’know,” she shook her head with a smile, unable to believe the lengths this guy was going to in order to make others feel better. Stahl’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Look. You worry about me when I’m upset, right?” He nodded. “Well I worry about you too, dummy. The issue being _you_ lock it all up,” Robin pointed accusingly at him. “Which means that _I’m_ worrying _constantly_ about whether you’re upset or not. You only have to take one glance at my face and you know how I’m feeling.” She crossed her arms and feigned disappointment.

Stahl shrugged and tucked his hands in his trouser pockets, an uncomfortable smile sitting on his features. “Yeah, but… Worrying isn’t that bad. It’s nothing compared to what could happen if you always did know how I felt.” Any strength his voice previously held was gone. He looked her directly in the eyes, the resignation in his tone gut-wrenching to hear. “You’re the only one who worries about me, anyway. If all these feelings do is hurt people and push them aside for my own selfish ends, then I’d rather keep being ‘the boring guy who resolves conflicts.’ Actually being able to help others…?” Stahl pursed his lips for a moment then nodded. “Yeah. I think that’s worth keeping people from caring for me,” he gave Robin the most heartbreakingly sad smile she’d ever seen.

A sudden wind swept the area, whipping up the pale strands of Robin’s silver hair so that they danced in the breeze. Something inside her ached at Stahl’s words. She couldn’t _stand_ to hear him say such depressing things – especially when they condemned him to such a bleak future.

“You’re wrong,” her voice was barely above a whisper, its meaning almost carried away with the wind. Robin could tell Stahl had heard her judging from the twitch at the side of his smile. Partially because she needed a way to cover up the tears that began forming, but mostly as a desperate measure to comfort him, Robin barrelled into Stahl’s chest and wrapped her arms around him. Robin’s head came upto his neck, so – probably against her better judgement – buried her face in the curve where the skin met his collar. “B-because _I_ care about you, alright?! So that means you _have_ to be selfish!” Her voice was muffled by the soft fabric, but between his barely audible gasp and the rise in pulse she was fairly certain he’d heard her.

The warmth of Stahl’s body was actually a really pleasant respite from the biting chill of the current rapid wind. But for the upper half of her face, which was already warm enough to begin with, was now superheated against the skin of his neck. Robin could feel his racing heartbeat from its surface. Despite its fast pace it was quite the calming metronome, lulling her into a strange sense of calm. For a fleeting second she allowed herself to indulge in the moment and closed her eyes, eyelashes barely ghosting over his skin but still making him flinch. She drunk in the pleasant scents of pine needles and freshly washed sheets, almost forgetting about the whole fiasco Robin was currently caught in.

“Robin…” Stahl breathed, a word that would be completely inaudible if she weren’t currently inches away from the vibrations in his throat. Robin felt strong arms wrap around her frame, gently holding her closer to his body. There was a pause filled with the rushing of blood in her ears and the constant barrage of heartbeats – whose was whose, she couldn’t tell. “…Okay. I’ll try,” he finally answered, and Robin felt the rise of his chest as Stahl let out a heavy sigh. “For you.” He added quietly.

* * *

“Jay, I need you to come downstairs right now.” Robin stood in his bedroom doorway, arms crossed. Her brother sighed and muttered something unintelligible under his tangled duvet. Sticking his head out from under his covers, Jay’s ragged features were illuminated by the scant Sunday midday sun that managed to sneak past the gap in his drawn curtains.

He gave her a squinted appraisal, then sighed and settled back down on his pillow. “I’m trying to rest,” Jay yawned.

“You’ve been doing nothing but ‘resting’ for the past two days,” she fired back, stepping through the minefield of scattered clothes that covered the carpet of her brother’s usually clean room. “C’mooon I have something to show you!” Robin managed to grab Jay’s shoulder before he disappeared back under his covers.

Despite his muffled whining it was an easy task to pull Jay back into the non-cotton world. “Can’t you just show me later?” He rubbed his sleep crusted eyes and tried to shield himself from the sparse light. The greyish stubble on his chin lit up like little starry pinpricks under the sun.

Robin shook her head and pulled on his bony arm. “It can’t wait! You need to see it _now!”_ She urged him, voice shrill with a culmination of forceful excitement. The childishness of the gesture managed to drag the slightest semblance of a smile from Jay’s lips. “Pleeeaaase?” Robin clasped her hands around his, giving him the best puppy dog eyes she could muster.

Jay raised his eyebrows at her. Then, knowing his sister well enough to understand that she wouldn’t stop, allowed a tired nod. “This better be good,” he begrudgingly mumbled, reaching across to his glasses with his free hand.

“Oh, trust me – it _is,_ ” Robin beamed, dropping his hand and skipping to the door. It took Jay half a minute to drag himself out from his bed. Robin tapped her foot impatiently and glanced down the hallway as she waited on his sleepy pace.

“Alright, take me to this spectacle,” he droned with his usual monotone snark. Robin turned back to him and looked him over. It was made quite obvious by the horrific creases that rode up his grey t-shirt and trousers that Jay had slept in his clothes for more than one day.

Trying to ignore the possibility that her brother hadn’t moved at all for the past couple days, Robin flicked her attention back to the mission at hand. “You got it!” She cheered, the creak in her voice giving away her concern, but neither of the two brought it up as she guided him downstairs.

Robin picked up the pace as they neared the bottom few steps, turning off and standing next to the closed door of the living room. She grinned at her brother as he slowly made his way down the stairs. When he finally did get to her, he narrowed his eyes and looked between her and the closed door.

“It’s in there?” He guessed, pointing at the entrance to the room. Robin nodded and reached over to grab the handle. With one swift, dramatic motion, she threw open the door to reveal four figures stood around the cream sofa. Chrom, Olivia, Gaius and Nowi stopped whatever they were doing and turned to present warm smiles to Jay.

“About time, Bubbles. Pretty rude to keep guests waiting,” Gaius purred, leaning on the arm of the sofa and rolling a sherbet lemon around his palm.

“If I’d known you were here I would’ve kept you waiting indefinitely,” Jay scoffed, a smirk playing across his features at their usual banter. Though it quickly dropped. “What are you guys doing here…?” His golden eyes flicked suspiciously over three of them and stopped on Nowi. The girl produced a nervous smile and a lacklustre wave.

Before he could question further, however, Chrom moved from his position by the back of the sofa. “Because of this,” he stated plainly, producing a disk out of seemingly nowhere. Jay’s confusion continued as he looked at the disk. Without bothering to give an explanation, Chrom moved around to the TV and the top-of-the-range DVD player Jay had bought for his last birthday. He inserted the disk in, took a seat on the sofa, and turned expectantly to the rest of the spectators. One by one they all moved to fill up the rest of the large, puffy cream sofa – all except Jay and Robin, who stood behind and watched together as the TV flickered to life.

It was Jay’s film.

The scenes of Chrom and Olivia’s characters caught up in their fantastical romance appeared on the screen, complimented by the soft score of Stahl’s acoustic guitar and deft cinematography provided by the surprisingly effective hand of Nowi.

It wasn’t just Jay’s film – it was _their_ film.

Everyone was enraptured by the spectacle in front of them. Their guests sat at the literal edge of their seats on the sofa, following their creation with wide, awed eyes. Robin glanced to look at her brother. At each line – each scene – she could see Jay’s perceptive golden globes analysing every detail, mentally recalling the screenplay he’d written and almost certainly memorised. The movements of his lips as he silently spoke the character’s lines were almost imperceptible, and the little curl at the corners of them even more so.

The final scene eventually rolled around. It followed Chrom’s original idea; the heartbreak was palpable as his character realised he could never be with his beloved. With each slow step Chrom took into the deceivingly calm waves with a sad, quiet acoustic tune playing softly in time with the sounds of the ocean. When he disappeared beneath the waves, the camera cut to a shot of the empty beach. Then it faded to black.

It took a moment for everyone to gather themselves as the little white credits appeared on screen. They all glanced to eachother, faces alight with ecstatic grins, then turned back to look at Jay with eyes glittering expectantly. He seemed to snap out of a trance and pulled his attention away from the TV, blinking as he noticed that everyone’s focus was on him.

Becoming sheepish, Jay presented his guests with an awkward grin. “How… Did you guys finish it…?” His question hung in the air as everyone looked at eachother.

“We got together yesterday and Friday to finish filming the rest of the scenes,” Chrom began, arm around the back of the sofa as he turned to smile kindly at Jay. Olivia – having nothing to add – just turned to Jay with those big, violet eyes and gave him her own small smile.

“Then I edited it together. I wanted to use a star wipe for all the transitions but Blue said it’d be too ‘tasteless’.” Gaius used air quotes around the last word, sprawled nonchalantly across one of the arms of the sofa. Chrom just rolled his eyes.

“…And I got Stahl to make us an original score,” Robin finally added with her own awkward smile and pulled her attention to her feet as she pulled on a silver strand of hair. Jay blinked at her in surprise – no doubt he’d get the details from her later. He probably would’ve questioned her now, if it weren’t for one last figure left on the sofa.

Robin glanced up and watched Jay turn to Nowi, who had been unusually quiet for the last few minutes. “…You directed the rest of the filming then?” His voice was hard, but not cold. It made Nowi flinch all the same. She nodded and the room fell into a tense silence. Then, unexpectedly, a warm smile graced Jay’s tired features. “You’re a really good director, Nowi.”

The green haired girl looked up at him, jaw slack and eyebrows raised halfway up her forehead. “I…” She began, losing her words halfway through. Nowi took a moment to steel herself. “I j-just followed your screenplay!” She finally sputtered, looking up at Jay with a shimmer in her purple eyes. “Word for word, shot for shot. No changes.” Nowi conjured up one of her usual ear-to-ear grins. “You’re the real star, Jay. I… I hope we can work together again in the future. I kinda miss messing around with the Film Club!”

Jay laughed at the girl’s subtle apology. “Hey, you’re welcome any time! This alone showed your skill. Everyone’s skill.” He looked around at everyone once more, the typical Finch grin re-emerging on his previously dour features. His hands were on his hips, chest puffed out, and Jay’s golden eyes were shining with what Robin could only assume was pride. Robin felt a smile pull at her own lips at the mere sight of it.

“…Although,” he began again, putting a hand to his chin thoughtfully. Everyone’s happy expressions dipped at this sudden change in attitude. “You know what this is great, but some of the transitions are a bit shaky… And the exposure in the ending shot was a bit off. Plus I had a different idea on how Olivia could deliver her last few lines.” Jay nodded to himself with his eyes narrowing, the cogs whirring away inside his head.

Nowi was the first to interject, “We could go out and re-film a couple of scenes!” She jumped up onto the soft cushions of the sofa, tapping her hands excitedly on the back of the piece of furniture.

“It’s only midday, after all. The sun’s out. We have time,” Chrom agreed, standing up and walking around to Jay.

“I-I don’t have anything t-to do,” Olivia added and then immediately ducked back behind the sofa as anyone turned their head in her direction. The five of them then turned to Gaius.

The ginger boy sighed and overdramatically slid off the side of the sofa, a few sherbet lemons falling out of his pockets at his oh-so-smooth movement. “I _suppose_ I could come with you. Y’know. As I _happen_ to be in a giving mood today.” The boy gave Jay a wry smirk, who returned it with a chuckle and a headshake.

“So relieved to hear that. You’re the most important part of this process, after all,” Jay remarked dryly as he crossed his arms.

Gaius nodded sagely. “Obviously.”

Jay turned away from them all and started towards the door of the living room. “Alright then, I guess I better go change then,” he gave them a small wave as he exited the room, which was met with a small chorus of excited ‘see ya’s. Jay paused and gave a lingering glance to Robin however, and gestured subtly with his head to the hallway. Blinking, Robin left everyone to their excited chatting and follow Jay out to the stairs, closing the door behind her.

Her brother had paused on the bottom step and was looking at her with a soft expression. “Thanks, Robin. I know you must’ve set all this up because you were worried about me.”

Robin shrugged and went to pull on a lock of her hair, suddenly bashful. “Hey it’s no big deal… You did the same kinda thing for me,” she laughed quietly and managed to flick her eyes back to his.

Jay went silent for a few more moments and adjusted his glasses. Then he looked up at her again, brows creased. “You really think I made the right decision? Going against our mother?”

Robin could hear the smidgen of doubt he still held in his voice. Pushing aside her own feelings about their mother, she mustered up the most genuine reassuring smile she had. “It’s true that you’re a Finch. Writing’s in your blood,” she began, not letting her tone falter. “But you’re also Jay. My super talented big brother who also happens to be _amazing_ at making films! And he’s also gonna impress the pants off those contest judges!” Robin finished, hands on her hips as she presented her own obnoxious Finch grin.

The side of Jay’s lips upturned at her words. He stayed quiet for a few more moments, but then he spoke – voice full of emotion. “Thanks, Robin,” he whispered. Jay gave her a firm nod, then turned around and disappeared upstairs.

Robin smiled to herself as she watched him go, a warmth curling in her chest.

Even if they didn’t have a father, even if they didn’t see their mother much, they always had eachother.

Jay and Robin Finch would always be there for eachother, even if they did make their promise come true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...And that was the Jay Arc, ladies and gentleman! Thank you for reading ;o This marks the end of your designated Stahl and Jay angst (FOR NOW). Aight, today officially starts my hiatus as I am now in university. It's not gonna be too long (I hope) since it'll just be until I settle in, get a good routine going, etc. etc. Even then, before I start writing parts again I need to fully flesh out all the chapters that will be connecting the end of this arc with the next one (which is gonna be CRAZY) so be prepared to drop back into the more chill/lighthearted realm when I do start updating again. Well, until I get to a Certain Chapter (which, if my current plan stays the same, will be number 24) that I have been looking forward to writing since... Like, Chapter 4. It's gonna be a ride.  
>  And for those wondering about the whole 'Stahl plays guitar???' thing, you guys better hold onto that thought because that's gonna be important Soon. And on that note (lol get it), in my head I kinda picture an acoustic guitar style kinda like Angus & Julia Stone's. If you're that interested in this visual (for whatever reason) go listen to their songs 'Draw Your Swords' and 'Yellow Brick Road' to see what I mean =w=  
> Okaydokey then - today's title. The last of the scenes format (FOR NOW???) and this one is the coda. This is the part of the film that's essentially the epilogue or the final remarks. Funnily enough it usually refers to the final movement of a piece of music, which ties into the whole original score thing.  
> Alrighty guys, hope you enjoy this last part for a bit. I'll probably edit these notes to give you guys some updates on when I think I'm gonna start writing again. Until then, have a good one!


	21. Advance Run

A soft sigh escaped Robin’s parched lips as she slowly exhaled the last dregs of sleep. Her dream-hazed mind slowly washed up on the shores of consciousness, pulling at her crusted eyelids and willing her to face the new day. Robin awoke staring at the dark wall beside her bed, unusually absent of the early morning shafts of light she was used to. She shrugged it off and instead focused on the bout of pins and needles tingling throughout her left arm. Running her tongue over the cracked surface of her bottom lip, Robin let out another sigh as she rolled over onto her opposite side and prepared to drift off to dreamland again.

But then she saw the pair of green eyes staring intently at her from a few inches away.

A high-pitched scream of utter terror rose at the back of Robin’s previously groggy throat, any sign of sleepiness instantly vanishing as she went on high alert. Scrambling backwards over her bedsheets, Robin quickly grabbed a pillow and hurled it towards this silent assailant.

“Ow. Ow! Stop that would you?! What in Grima’s name did you fill these pillows with?” The dark figure ducked as Robin continued to fire her feathery ammunition at them. “Be quiet, for gods’ sakes!” They hissed and leapt forward onto the bed, covering her mouth with a slightly sticky palm.

The dull red glow of Robin’s digital clock lit up the visage of the supposed trespasser. Gaius’ messy ginger locks stuck up in odd places where the pillows had collided with his head, his pink lollipop half hanging out of his mouth. To anyone else the roguish boy’s intrusion would be cause for alarm – but not in the Finch household.

Robin breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, Gaius, it’s just you,” she mumbled into his sugary tasting palm, the panic draining out of her scrunched shoulders. He removed his hand and shifted into a crossed-legged position on her bed. About to lie back down, Robin’s sleepy brain managed to spare enough consciousness to question her visitor. “Wait, no – why the heck are you here?” She made an unconvincing frown as she cast a half-lidded golden eye to the boy.

“Aren’t I allowed to visit my favourite little mouse?” Gaius flashed his sharp canines at her, the playful growl of his voice accentuating the mischievous glimmer in his feline eyes. “We spent so much time together making Jay’s movie that it actually feels a little lonely when I don’t have someone to constantly bully,” he chuckled to himself as Robin’s frown deepened.

“Gods, why did we ever trust you with the key to the house?”

“Because you secretly love me.” This remark rewarded him with another pillow to the face.

“Yeah right!” Robin snorted, but couldn’t help the smirk that upturned the side of her lips.

The bright pink pillow cover slid off of Gaius’ face to reveal his expression of mock anger. “Oh, you’re in for it now!” He picked up one of the pillows off the floor and jumped from her mattress, bringing the weaponised bedding down on her head. The two laughed and giggled madly as they engaged in pillow warfare; early morning tweets of birds mingled with their childish exploits as a few shafts of light began to seep in through the curtains.

This merriment was stopped abruptly as the bedroom door slammed open to reveal Jay stood menacingly with a tripod over his shoulder. “Robin, I heard your screaming! Don’t worry – your big brother’s here to protect you!” The boy’s eyes were scrunched up, lacking their usual adornment of glasses. Unable to see that her ‘attacker’ was their friend, Jay brought the plastic monstrosity down towards Gaius.

The ginger boy narrowly avoided the tripod and rolled across the carpet. “Woah, Bubbles! Chill! It’s me!”

“AH! This guy’s even stolen Gaius’ voice! _This monster must be stopped!”_

“No Jay it’s reall- AHHH!” A high pitched scream erupted from Gaius’ throat as he ducked out of the way of Jay’s second swing, only to collide his crotch with the bedframe. Robin emphatically winced as the boy collapsed in a pile on the floor. Jay, confused by the sudden silence, fished in his pyjama trouser pockets for his glasses and affixed them on his face.

“Oh. It really _was_ you. Sorry about that, buddy,” he chuckled as he spotted Gaius curled up in the foetal position on the floor.

Gaius managed to make a shaky thumbs up. “I-it’s fine,” he squeaked, a single tear running down the side of his cheek. Robin stared on in dismay as Jay casually laid his tripod to the side, swapping his attention from his prone friend to the papers splashed across Robin’s desk.

“Are these this week’s article?” Jay chirped, turning to Robin with a sparkle in his eye and a curve at the side of his lips.

She sighed and rose from her seat on the bed. On her way over to her brother, she spared a hand to pull Gaius to his feet. “Yep. As you can see I used all of the over-the-top positive adjectives I could think of to describe your new ‘masterpiece’.” Robin made air quotes with her fingers, one eyebrow raised as Jay scanned back over her article.

“Did you mention my newest project?” The Cheshire cat grin spreading across Jay’s face was unmistakable, despite the fact that a purple bruise was quite clearly forming on the face of his best friend.

Gaius and Robin exchanged a raised eyebrow. Jay was practically shaking with excitement. After a long silence and a deep sigh, Robin finally proceeded to ask him with the utmost caution, fearing her brother may burst. “And what is this new project?”

“I’m glad you asked, dear sister!” Jay exploded, bounding over to the two and throwing an arm over each of their shoulders. “You know the annual play the school puts on in February?”

“You mean when the drama students put on frilly pants and frocks and recite the words of some zillion year old guy that no one understands?”

“Yes! Well, sort of.” Jay’s brows furrowed for a moment, then immediately the ecstatic shimmer was back in his amber eyes. “ _This_ year, we’re doing a musical. And _I’m_ directing it!” He announced, chest puffing out proudly.

Robin raised her eyebrows, genuinely impressed with her brother’s new project. “Woah, really? That’s actually kinda cool,” she smiled and patted him on the back, an endeavour that was made far more awkward by the fact that Jay was currently crushing herself and Gaius under his tight grip.

“Lemme guess – West Side Story?” Gaius snickered as he slinked out of Jay’s arm.

“Am I really that predictable?” Jay joined in with Gaius’ laughter, all near-death experiences forgotten. Shaking her head at their antics, Robin couldn’t help but be proud of her brother. A week ago he was a self-conscious mess who had no confidence in his work whatsoever, but now he was actively taking on more and more projects with increasing responsibility. It was heart-warming to see him progress like this in such a short space of time.

“So when does all the writing and casting start?” Robin freed herself from her brother’s half-hug, fixing him a classic Finch smirk, which he immediately returned.

“Right after the festival! Nowi’s actually being co-director since she has experience with directing stage plays, so we’re starting right after the festival’s done.” Robin’s heart immediately lurched at the mention of the festival.

“Oh yeah. That,” she laughed weakly, sitting down on the edge of her bed. The weight of responsibility she’d been trying not to think about immediately came crashing back down on her. It was only three days away and yet she still had so much to prepare. They had to rush the week’s issue so they could find the time to cover the whole backstage processes behind the festival’s arrangement. _Then_ they had to compile everyone’s schedules so they could see who was free to actually cover the event itself, which was quite a chore considering that the vast majority of the Newspaper Club had some prior involvement in it. This left the entire first-hand coverage of the event down to her, Stahl and Olivia. It’d be just like old times.

“Heh, it’s gonna be a real entertaining evening, that’s for sure,” Gaius’ purr pulled Robin out of her thoughts. The boy rolled a peppermint candy around on his tongue as a contented smile replaced the smirk on his face. Robin and Jay couldn’t help but be suspicious at this turn in behaviour. “Cordelia’s gonna be performing.” The ginger provided as he saw their incredulous looks.

Ah. _Cordelia._ That was another thing that drove a dagger in Robin’s chest. Flashes of that scene between Cordelia and Stahl in the newspaper office spattered across her mind, their smiles tattooed to her eyes. Her jealousy relating to the redhead had completely shifted focus; up until recently it was completely to do with Chrom, but now Robin was more worried about Cordelia’s relationship with her easy eyed, olive haired companion. The link between the two was clear. She’d spent the past few nights pouring over every encounter she’d had where the two were in the same room together.

The time Gaius dragged them all to see Cordelia in the music room came to mind; the silent way Stahl and Cordelia exchanged that lingering look always seemed suspicious. Then there was his admission that he’d gone to see Cordelia about completing last week’s article before Robin herself. Oh, and how the both of them turned up to the Halloween party together.

“Hey, sis. Yo. Did you just log off?” Robin snapped out of her musings to see her brother waving a hand in front of her eyes. She’d been biting her thumbnail and her forehead was now sore from the intense scowl she’d been sporting.

“What? Oh, yeah, I’m just tired,” she laughed it off, trying not to meet Gaius’ leaf green eyes. The ginger haired boy was staring at her with an unusually intense gaze, smile replaced with a thoughtful frown. “Now both of you – get _out!_ There’s still a few hours until school and if you think I am sparing a _moment_ of that time that I could be sleeping to talk to you guys then you are dead wrong.” Robin got up and quickly shooed the boys out of the room, ignoring their complaints and shutting her bedroom door behind them.

Sighing, Robin slowly shuffled back into her covers and laid her head down on the pillow. Everything was back to normal - something she could be thankful for. There was no drama on the horizon that she could see. Now that she didn’t have her crush on Chrom to worry about, she could now focus on more serious, academic work. All she had to do was get through this week and all would be smooth sailing.

Right?

* * *

“Could _somebody_ for the love of _Naga_ tell me how people as irresponsibly carefree as you exist? You realise this assessment is worth 50% of your final grade, right? Oh, and that means half, in case you were doing this badly in Maths as well.” Mrs. Phila’s bright red complexion stuck out like a beacon of glaring disapproval against her snow white hair. Her face had contorted new lines in places where Robin didn’t even think it was possible to get lines.

Clearing her throat, Robin arranged herself in as neat a position as possible to prepare to bargain with her life. Back straight, fingers entwined in front of her, and head held high, Robin attempted Diplomacy. “Well, Mrs. Phila, the _newspaper-“_

“You’ve used that excuse for two months straight now, Miss Finch. I’m not buying it anymore.”

Crap. Diplomacy failed. Abort. ABORT. Robin looked desperately to the side, trying to find anyone that could help her out of her dire situation. Looking behind her, she came face to face with a scowling Maribelle. Further back she spotted the oversized teal beanie of Ricken, which gave her a flicker of hope, until she met his brown eyes with her own. He frowned, slowly shook his head, and then pulled up his fingers covered in various dinosaur covered plasters. Oops. Guess he was still mad about her leaving all of last week’s newspaper and coffee responsibilities on him. Robin gave him a sheepish, apologetic smile before turning to her deskmate, who was… deeply asleep. Oh dear.

Stahl’s cowlick bounced gently in time with his light snores, drool dripping onto the pages of some excerpt from Hamlet. _‘To die, to sleep – to sleep, perchance to dream’_ – a bit too literal an interpretation there, Stahl. Robin couldn’t help a smile pull at the edges of her lips as she looked at the boy. He was so peaceful, so happy; when Stahl was asleep, there was no worrying about whether the expression he wore was the truth or not. Regardless, he’d reassured her that he’d do his best to let her in to his feelings. _Her._ Robin. _Not_ Cordelia.

“I’m _waiting,_ Miss Finch.” Mrs Phila tapped her foot impatiently, face still stuck in the same enraged position.

Robin flinched at the authoritative tone and wet her lips. Her mind was grasping at straws for possible excuses she could use. _‘My great-great-aunt is sick’, ‘I’m allergic to standardised writing assignments’, ‘my Pegasus ate my homework’._ Deciding on her words, Robin tried Diplomacy again. “My-“

“Mrs. Phila – class – may I come in for a moment?” Robin’s semantics were interrupted by the smooth, calming voice of their headmistress. Miss Emmeryn stood in the half-opened doorway to their classroom, warm smile on display across her amiable expression. Mrs. Phila’s face immediately shifted from rage to a disturbingly happy grin that Robin was not accustomed to seeing.

“Ah! Emmeryn! Yes, why of course, do anything that you wish!” The white haired woman practically shone with radiant positivity as she greeted their headmistress. The entire class watched on, listless, as their teacher transformed into some horrifying doppelganger that was no doubt going to do something outrageous, like give them encouragement or fair grades or something.

“Actually I’d prefer we discuss it in my office.” Emmeryn smiled kindly then moved her emerald eyes to the teenagers sat at their desks. “You don’t mind if I borrow her, do you?” Her question was immediately followed by unanimous vigorous head shaking. “Wonderful.” The golden haired woman stepped outside of the door, waiting for Mrs. Phila to follow her.

The white haired woman’s pleasant smile immediately vanished as she turned to address Robin, brows deeply furrowed and brown eyed gaze sharpened to a point. “We haven’t finished this discussion. I expect a better revision of your coursework due in by next week,” she growled, before returning to her unusually sunny disposition as she followed Emmeryn out the door, slamming it behind her.

“Whu?” The loud noise had awakened Stahl from his slumber. He now sat up, eyes drooped, with a piece of paper now stuck to his cheek where his drool had adhered it to his face. “Did I miss summin’? Where’s Mrs. Phila?” He glanced dozily around the room while rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Robin rolled her eyes and pulled the piece of paper from his face. Stahl blinked and looked to her in sleepy confusion, which she returned with a small smile. “Our teacher – the minion of Grima herself, spawned from the darkest pits of hell – _smiled_.”

Stahl’s mouth dropped open. “You mean she’s _not_ a robot?!”

“I _know_ right? I thought for sure she’d had a lobotomy to take out that part of her brain. You know. The part with emotions.”

“I think you’ll find that’s the frontal lobe. Not that I’d expect you to know that, considering you slept through the entirety of Biology as well.” The stern, high-pitched source of this snark was unmistakable. Robin and Stahl exchanged a cursory glance before turning around in their seats to face their inevitable lecture.

Maribelle held her chin high, glaring daggers at the pair with her maroon eyes. The sides of her lips were tightly pursed in a way that suggested it took a lot of effort to contain her sharp tongue. She flicked one of her golden curls over her shoulder before pointing a daintily manicured finger at them. “It’s not even Christmas yet and you two are _already_ phoning it in! This is a school, not a charity that gives out free qualifications to any rabble that can read!”

Robin and Stahl gulped as Maribelle’s face became as pink as the bows in her hair. “We’re really sorry, Maribelle, but it’s just been very stressful recently…!” Stahl waved his arms with one of his polite smiles, trying his best to diffuse the situation before Maribelle burst a blood vessel.

Robin frowned and leaned on the back of her chair, pointing one of her own substantially less maintained fingers back at her. “Honestly, I don’t really see why you’re worrying about us so much. Haven’t you got something else better to spend your breath on?”

Maribelle’s perfectly plucked eyebrows dipped into a confused scowl. She went to say something, but then decided not to, pulling her hand back and crossing her arms. “I do – believe me – it’s just…” She trailed off, glancing to the multi-coloured dots painted on the plastic tabletop. A few moments of silence passed before she decided on her words, looking up at the two with a genuine twinkle of compassion flashing across her dark irises. “I’m worried about you two, okay? If you two keep goofing off then you’re actually going to fail this class. Then it’d leave me all alone in this godforsaken lesson,” she sighed, leaning forward on her desk and doing her best to shield her eyes with some of her loose blonde bangs.

Robin and Stahl looked at Maribelle, then at eachother, then Maribelle again. They were gobsmacked.

“First _Phila_ and now _you_ too _,_ Maribelle?! Is our school being invaded?!” Stahl’s eyes were panicked, hands running through his hair frantically.

“Oh my gods, maybe they are robots. Or maybe they _were_ robots and now they’ve actually been replaced with their real human counterparts?” Robin cocked her head in thought, staring hard at Maribelle for any signs of circuitry or metal plating. Stahl gasped breathlessly.

“ _Maribot was real.”_

“For gods’ sakes, can you two shut up for one second and stop calling me a robot?!”

Stahl and Robin burst into a fit of laughter at Maribelle’s bright red features and, surprisingly enough, after the blonde calmed down she allowed a small smile. However in classic Maribelle fashion she quickly hid it behind her hand. Before they could ruminate more on the aristocrat’s new human abilities, the bell for the end of class rung out, freeing the students from their morning of hell.

“You wanna come with me to the canteen?” Stahl glanced sideways to Robin as he tucked in his chair and grabbed his bag. As if for some reason she’d decline, he coolly added, “They’re having a 2 for 1 sale on breakfast bagels.”

“So I get to watch you stuff your face full of 20 bagels instead of 10 today?”

“I might even give you one if you’re lucky.”

“Before you’ve eaten it, I hope,” Robin chuckled and swung her bag over her shoulder.

Stahl gave her one of his signature lopsided grins. “Sure. After I’ve taken away the VAT of one bite. VAT in this case standing for Value Added Taste.” Robin rolled her eyes and fought back a smile at his joke. She lost. It felt really nice to be back to their usual banter. It was a comforting feeling, having Stahl back next to her, cracking jokes and laughing at hers.

The two walked out of their classroom side by side after everyone else poured out of the door. A small gust of cold November wind whipped past, sending Robin’s silver tresses dancing behind her. Stahl’s messy bedhead somehow got even more chaotic, not that he made a move to try and repair it. The boy just stood there looking at her with his soft olive eyes, smiling as if the sun were shining. Despite the biting chill, a small warmth kindled in Robin’s chest at the sight.

Then all of a sudden she felt a hand on her shoulder and she was pulled away, Stahl’s smile turning into a confused frown.

“Sorry Knight, just gotta steal little Squeak here for a second,” Gaius’ slick tones sounded right next to Robin’s ear, making her instinctively cringe away from the ginger haired boy. Stahl gave a confused nod, but before he could give a verbal answer Gaius dragged Robin further away. “Great! Stay here, we’ll just be a minute.”

“Don’t I get a say in this?!” Robin flailed her arms to try and dispel the gangly creature, to no avail. He finally let go of her when they reached a little alcove in the courtyard. Puffing out her cheeks and putting her hands on her hips, Robin mustered the poutiest look she could manage. “Alright, Gaius, what’s the big dea-“

“Cordelia. You’re still weird about her. Why?” Gaius stood a few inches away from her, a deep scowl etched into his usually jovial features.

Robin blinked at his blunt question. She frowned as she considered her answer, tapping her top lip with a finger. Cordelia’s name was still enough to make her stomach flip with a heavy, sick feeling. She wasn’t a bad person – she knew this. If anything, she was quite similar to Robin. More than she was willing to admit. Unrequited crush, too afraid to make a move, jealous streak resulting in selfish and sometimes stupid actions.

“Is it because of Chrom?” Gaius prompted, snapping Robin out of her train of thought.

“What? No. No! I don’t even like Chrom anymore!” She waved her arms in dismissal.

Her reaction made Gaius’ eyebrows raise. “Really? Then why do you still cringe whenever Cordelia’s brought up?” Ironically, this comment made Robin cringe more. She stepped away from Gaius’ intense gaze and glanced around the corner of the wall they stood against. Stahl still stood there, whistling blithely to himself and shifting backwards and forwards on his heels.

_Stahl._

That scene of Stahl and Cordelia stood in her office rushed to the forefront of Robin’s mind, her skin prickling in bilious gooseflesh as a cold shudder shook her chest. The way they’d laughed, the way they’d smiled… Gods, she just wanted to claw out her eyes and eardrums just _thinking_ about it.

Gaius followed her gaze and subtly popped his head around the corner. He saw Stahl and immediately clocked what was going on, turning back to Robin with a short sigh. “Okay, what the hell’s going on with you two now?”

“Nothing, nothing!” Robin squeaked, turning back around to him and once again flailing her arms in an attempt to disprove his claims. Gaius looked unconvinced, crossing his arms and fixing her with his catlike gaze. “…It’s just… I think he has a thing for Cordelia,” her voice came out small. The ginger haired boy sighed again.

“Look, Robin, we’ve already been over this – I’m pretty sure Stahl doesn’t like he-“

“They’re really friendly. At Lissa’s Halloween party the two walked in together, talking like they were best friends,” she spoke fast, like if she didn’t verbalise her memories immediately she’d lose the words to describe them. “Then when we were filming I happened to go back to the office one day and find them in there. _Alone._ Cordelia isn’t even in the Newspaper Club. They were smiling and laughing and standing pretty close to eachother. And when they noticed me, Stahl looked scared. Like I’d caught him doing something wrong.” Her throat burned as bile threatened to rise up her oesophagus. “Like I saw something that he didn’t want me to see.”

Gaius stayed quiet for a while, his lips pulled taut into a straight line. When he didn’t respond, Robin continued. “The weird thing about it all though, is that… I think Stahl likes me too…?” She laughed awkwardly, her eyes quickly darting to her feet. She saw the brief flashes of memories of when Stahl held her hand, the way he looked at her, the way he ran when he saw her and Chrom together, the intimate hug they’d shared the week before…

Gaius continued to be silent, chewing the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. He watched Robin’s slowly reddening face with an unusually stoic expression. “If that’s the case…” His voice pulled Robin’s attention, managing to drag her out of her embarrassed stupor enough for her to glance at him. The moment her golden eyes met his green ones, Gaius lunged forward and clamped his hands down on her shoulders. “You HAVE to make him fall for you more!”

“W- _what?!_ ” Her voice came out as a high-pitched peep. Gaius had begun shaking her violently, her skull rattling around as the look of outright desperation on the boy’s face became a blur.

“I’m already having to compete against _Chrom_ – the godsdamned Prince Charming – I can’t handle dealing with the knight in shining armour too!” The genuine panic in his anguished whine was unmistakable. “C’mon, Robin, you _have_ to do this for me!” He begged, the energy in his arms leaving him as he the shaking slowly came to a stop. Gaius dropped his head, squeezing his eyes tight as he tried to regain his composure.

Robin could only watch as the boy recovered from his temporary meltdown. She sighed, slowly and carefully removing his hands from her shoulders. “We both know that’s not fair, Gaius. I’d do mostly anything to help you out with Cordelia, but I can’t just… Lead Stahl on like that.”

“What, so now you’re resigning from your crazy crushes?” Gaius’ head snapped back up as he growled. His face had quickly turned into a disgusted scowl, contempt glistening in his narrowed pupils. He squared his shoulders as he loomed over her, creating an uncharacteristically menacing silhouette.

Robin blinked, dumbfounded by this unexpected hostile reaction, then mirrored his scowl. “Gaius, seriously. Stahl isn’t just some ‘boy of the week’, okay? He’s my _friend._ I _care_ about his feelings,” she explained, punctuating her words with a few steps forward. Robin was now glaring back up at Gaius, not letting his intimidation techniques get the best of her. “And, quite frankly, you should really be worried about Cordelia liking _you,_ not anybody else,” she spat. The two held eachother’s gazes for a few tense, silent moments.

Finally, Gaius relaxed, his shoulders deflating. “Right… You’re right,” he sighed, turning away from her. He ran a hand sheepishly through his ginger hair, eyes downcast. The boy looked defeated. “But I’m going to dance with Cordelia at this festival no matter what, okay?” A sudden surge of determination made him look back up at her. “So if your little knight gets upset about that, don’t expect me to feel bad. For the record, I think he’d much rather dance with you.” And with that scathing comment, Gaius turned on his heels and stalked off, hands in his pockets.

Robin watched him go, kicking a few stones in his path. Turning back around the corner, Robin could only shake her head and wonder what got into Gaius as she returned to Stahl. The olive haired boy perked up a bit as she came into view. “Hey! You guys were talking for a while, is everything okay?” He chirped, head cocked to the side in concern. Naga, is there ever a time when Stahl _doesn’t_ know when something’s wrong?

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Gaius was just a bit… stressed, is all. About the dance.” _Or at least I think that’s what it is_ , Robin remarked internally. Stahl nodded sagely but didn’t ask any further questions.

The two began walking towards the canteen, passing the groups of teenagers trying to take solace from the November winds by sitting under the trees along the cobblestone path. Laughter and amiable conversation danced along the steady breezes, creating a bright atmosphere despite the grey clouds hanging overhead.

Robin fiddled with the hem of her sleeve. She kept stealing glances sideways at her companion, Gaius’ words stuck in her head. _Would_ Stahl like to dance with her? Was she right about him liking her? Stahl seemed oblivious to gazing. Instead, he strolled along with his soft hazel eyes half-closed, a contented smile sat upon his face as he took in the pleasant morning air. The sight calmed Robin, ceasing her fidgeting. This was Stahl. There was no reason to be nervous.

“Hey, Stahl,” she began, voice level. The boy turned his head towards her. “Do you… Uh, are you going to be dancing at the festival?” Robin almost tripped over her words but managed to salvage herself before she looked suspicious.

Stahl smiled pleasantly at her, crinkles forming at the side of his eyes. “Don’t worry, I don’t intend on slacking off like that. It’s just me, you and Olivia doing the reporting on Friday, after all.”

“No, no! I mean – it’s fine! I’m not gonna make us do newspaper stuff _all_ evening. It’d be pretty unfair to deprive us of the festival shenanigans,” she laughed awkwardly, shoving her hands in her pockets so she didn’t give away her nervousness by fidgeting.

“Oh.” Stahl considered this, eyebrows raised. “How benevolent of you,” he chuckled. “But… Nah, I’m not really into dancing. Not at festivals anyway. Dancing when you’re in the middle of a dark room with people everywhere is one thing, but out in the open when there are slow dances all the time…” He shrugged, glancing away and running a hand through his hair. “Not my thing,” Stahl turned back to her with a slightly forced smile.

“Ah… I gotcha.” Robin felt her heart sink at his answer, but tried to return his smile anyway. Disappointment began to swirl in the base of her stomach, creating an upward torrent of negative thoughts. Of _course_ he wouldn’t want to dance with her – what was Gaius thinking? What was _she_ thinking? Robin had never had a guy interested in her before, what made her think that would ever change? Gods, she was so _stupid._

“I will, however, eat all the hot dogs and slushies I can until you have to roll me home.” He nudged her side with his elbow, dragging her momentarily out of her downward spiral. “And to make up for it I can try and win you one of those Hello Taguel dolls from the game stalls!” Stahl grinned but then stopped himself, a tinge of pink creeping up his ears. “…Though I’m not very good at them,” he admitted and looked upwards, suddenly becoming very interested in the clouds. Robin had to bite her lip to prevent herself from giggling. The roiling regret in her stomach dissipated at his offer, instead replaced with the heightened thumping of her heart.

“…C’mon! Let’s go get you those bagels before they sell out!” Suddenly finding herself full of energy, Robin grabbed hold of Stahl’s wrist and began running down the path.

“Wha- woah! Okay!” Stahl almost stumbled as he was violently dragged out of his thoughts. But, when Robin threw him a smile, the olive haired boy immediately grinned and began running with her. “Alright – onwards, to food coma!”

* * *

“Lissa, you are _not_ signing up to that boy’s _stupid_ – and not to mention _incredibly dangerous_ – skateboarding competition in January!”

This lunchtime started not with a whimper, not with a bang, but with Maribelle’s high pitched lecturing.

“What if you break a nail? What if you skin your knee?! What if – heaven forbid – you sprain _both_ your legs?!”

The entire group on the bleachers sighed and tried to cover their ears, but it was no use – the aristocrat’s voice seemed to puncture through any and all kinds of matter. Years from now, scientists could harness Maribelle’s scolding to annoy terrorists and criminals into surrender.

Lissa sat with her arms crossed and her cheeks puffed out, glaring defiantly at the blonde. “Yes I am! I’ve gotten really good, Maribelle, seriously! I think it’ll be super fun, even if I don’t win anything!” She yelled back, turning to a very irritated Lon’qu sat next to her (with an empty seat between them, of course). “Don’t you think so, Lon’qu?”

The boy looked down to the small little ball of sunshine staring expectantly up at him. Lon’qu stood up and stepped closer towards her, towering over her seat on the bleachers, then slowly lifted his hand to point at her. The whole area went quiet and stared at him, waiting with baited breath for what he’d say.

“You’re not signing up,” he stated, bluntly.

Lissa’s green eyes went wide with shock. She jumped up, then began to try and convince him otherwise with her more pitiful whine. “But Lon’qu you’ve _seen_ how good I am, I can even land a kickflip without falling ove-“

“You’re not signing up,” he repeated. “The blonde woman is right. It’s too dangerous.” The Feroxi’s gravelly monotone voice brooked no argument. Lissa hung her head, dejected, and sat back down on her seat to resume her pouting. Maribelle looked even smugger than usual, giving an approving nod to Lon’qu. He rolled his eyes. “It’s dangerous because of the people. They’re not nice. If you do anything to slight them they’ll come after you.”

Lissa had shrunk into herself, her crossed arms going limp to her sides. “…Okay,” she conceded. The blonde looked back up at Lon’qu and gave him a sweet smile. “I’m still coming though – who else is going to be your cheerleader?” Lissa giggled, all previous sadness immediately dissipated. Maribelle rolled her eyes but didn’t make a move to complain.

Lon’qu coughed and began walking away. “Strange woman,” he muttered under his breath, holding a hand in front of his face to try and hide the crimson smothering on his cheeks.

“Hey, Casanova, looks like you spilled some red paint on yourself there! Wouldja like Lissa to come clean it off for you before or after she puts on her cheerleading outfit?” Sully shouted after him, a devilish grin pulling at the sides of the redhead’s mouth. Lon’qu shot her the Glare Of A Thousand Sharpened Blades and quickly exited stage left before anybody else could make fun of him. Naturally, this resulted in the group of Vaike, Sully and Gaius bursting into uproarious laughter, and the rest of the people gathered on the bleachers snickered to themselves.

“Looks like the banter is as plentiful as ever today,” Jay remarked to Robin as he leaned on the back of her plastic chair.

“Yep. Sure makes a nice change from being stuck in a room full of cameras,” Robin fired back, pushing the bridge of Jay’s glasses back up his nose. Her brother instinctively moved backwards and accidentally fell back onto his own empty chair. This incurred a giggle from the pink haired Olivia sat next to her.

“I-it’s just so lovely to s-see everyone together again…” The petite Feroxi smiled out from her threadbare scarf, which was nothing but an elongated string of wool by this point.

“Though I wish they wouldn’t make me laugh so hard, anymore jokes and I think there might be a repeat from that dance last month.” Stahl held one hand on his mouth and one on his stomach, his skin taking on a green tinge not dissimilar to the one in his eyes. As it turns out, the reason the bagels were 2 for 1 at breaktime were because they were past their sell-by date. And Stahl ate 26 of them.

“That’s what you get for choosing the _tuna_ filling of all things!” Robin scolded, poking him in the side.

“Gods, please don’t remind me. That mayonnaise was not in liquid form.” The boy swallowed hard.

The casual atmosphere was once again broken by _another_ high-pitched screeching.

“GUYS! THIS IS A _DISASTER!_ THE FESTIVAL IS RUINED!” Nowi came running up the steps, blonde-green hair sticking out at random angles and sweat pouring down her face from scaling all the stairs with her short legs. Everybody stopped their conversations and turned their attention to the small girl’s melodrama.

“Nowi. Breathe. You sound like a dying frog.” Tharja had waltzed over, black skirt swaying about her ankles, then kneeled next to the now doubled over Nowi. “I would know,” she muttered quietly.

“M-Madame Cherche…” Nowi gasped, still trying to regain her air. She currently had one side of her face pressed against the cold metal of the bleacher steps.

“What? Madame C?! What’s happened to her?” Vaike jumped up from his seat, face pulled back in genuine concern. The majority of the people sat on the bleachers looked to the musclebound blonde in surprise. Frederick, Chrom and Sully, however, all sighed in unison and buried their faces in their hands. “It ain’t anything serious, is it?!” He was leaning so far on the chair in front of him – which was currently occupied by a very concerned Sumia – that he looked ready to fall forwards at any second.

“Sh-she…” Nowi tried to pull herself up, her amethyst eyes transfixed on nothing. “…Her act… Juggling axes with her pet alligator… Had to be… C-cancelled… Because it was deemed too dangerous…” She finally managed to squeeze out the source of her worry.

“ _What?!_ But Minerva’s a tough gal – she wouldn’t get hurt by some stupid axes!” Vaike yelled in outrage, completely missing the point. Sumia had to duck to avoid being hit by Vaike’s fist that he had begun shaking in protest.

“…And this is a problem becaaauuuse…?” Cordelia piped in, judging stare as cold as ever, as she tried to bat away Vaike’s ridiculously muscular arm.

“She was the _closing act!”_ Nowi jumped to her feet, almost shoving Tharja down the stairs. “And it’s too short notice to get another one! Where am I going to find someone talented enough in some performance related skill to pull off a totally improvised routine in _four days?!”_ The bleachers went quiet. Everyone glanced to eachother, dismayed, as they were speechless to Nowi’s predicament.

Then, after a few moments of silence, the last person anyone expected to speak up raised their hand.

“I-I can dance,” Olivia squeaked. Everyone’s eyes instantly turned towards her, making the pink haired girl sink down into her chair. Robin looked to her friend. She was shaking – she looked utterly terrified – yet she still had the courage to offer herself up without even a second thought. It filled Robin’s chest with a warm feeling. The Olivia she had known at the start of the year would never have been able to do this, yet here she was. She’d come so far.

Nowi stared at Olivia before her crystallised eyes lit up, running over to the girl and grabbing her hands.

“You’ll really do it?! You’ll be my closing act?! With a professional dance! What kind of dance do you do? Do you do ballet? I love ballet!” Nowi was now jumping up and down as she tittered on in excitement, shaking Olivia about as she did so.

“Y-yes I c-can do b-ballet!” The girl stuttered profusely, face even redder than Lon’qu’s had been a few minutes earlier.

“Fantastic!” Nowi cheered, finally releasing Olivia. The Feroxi fell back into her chair, slightly dizzy from her shaking. “The day has been saved! You may now resume your lunches,” Nowi gave everyone a big grin and a wide wave before running back down the stairs, completely cured of her previous exhaustion. Tharja watched Nowi from where she pushed her over with a rueful expression.

“Well,” Stahl spoke right next to Robin’s ear, making both her and her pulse jump. “Guess that just leaves you and me to cover the Friday festival stuff, huh?”

This realisation only struck Robin as she stared into Stahl’s hazel eyes, only a handful of inches away from hers. A week ago, this would’ve maybe made her a bit flustered – purely because close proximity isn’t something she’s used to. A month or two ago, she would’ve just laughed and pushed him away.

But now… Now, she could hear the blood rushing in her ears. Now the only thing she could focus on was how eyes had little flecks of emerald green in them, how one side of his lips still curved slightly upwards even with his normal smile, how the rest of the world was blurred around the edges of Stahl’s face…

“Yeah,” Robin gulped, looking away. “Guess so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH HECK WHAT UP BOIS IT'S YOUR PAL, PRE-MAD, BACK FROM A BILLION YEAR HIATUS  
> Believe it or not I actually wrote this chapter like a year ago but completely forgot to upload it somehow???? The whole reason I'm uploading it now is because I just finished another chapter so figured I'd put them up together xD  
> I'M SO SORRY BUT I'M BACK NOW SO THAT'S GOOD RIGHT?


	22. To The Skyline

It had been half an hour since the last bell rang out on the Wednesday afternoon. Unlike all the other students who were frantically pushing eachother aside in hopes to get home quicker, Robin was stood by her desk in the Newspaper Clubroom. Shafts of thin, tangerine light trickled in from the half-shut blinds on the windows, speckling the week’s newspaper issue so far.

Along with all their usual articles, this week’s main focus was on Jay’s film. It was a pretty standard hype piece, all things considered – the main reason Robin even wrote it was to try and give Jay more sway with the contest judges. It did save Robin from going into extreme detail with all the different festival preparations though, which is something she was very thankful for. She did _not_ want to deal with all the pre-dance craziness again.

Yep, everything was business as usual as far as Robin was concerned.

Except for one thing.

Robin frowned, her brow creasing in confusion, as she once again looked over Sumia’s poetry segment. Usually the clumsy brunette’s poems were full of heart and overly flowery wording, but this week her contribution was… Well, pretty weird.

_‘Hurry inside_

_Seek out only a meadow to warm my hands on dusky autumn_

_Pastel sky flutters_

_Anything is flowing softly, gently_

_I would join it if you would’_

Maybe this was a minimalist thing? Artsy types sometimes go through weird experimental phases like this, right? Yet, no matter how much Sumia seemed like mid-2000s Taylor Swift, Robin really couldn’t envision her going through a transformation similar to modern days’ Taylor Swift. God, Robin really needed to stop listening to Gaius’ music choices.

She sighed then shook her head. “Whatever,” she muttered, closing the pile of papers. “I’m no Ms. Phila. I don’t know what makes a good poem.”

“Hiya Robin!” The cheerful greeting made Robin jump, spinning around only to find the eerily grinning face of Henry.

Robin’s shoulders relaxed. “Oh, it’s just you. I thought for a second I was in some school related slasher movie where the escaped deranged murderer very specifically preyed on highly literate students.”

“That says hello and knows your name?”

Robin narrowed her eyes at the boy who was still smiling from ear to ear. Gods, maybe Robin had been watching too many of Jay’s horror films. She internally resolved to never get recommendations from her brother or his friends ever again. After a brief silence, Robin immediately changed the subject. “What are you doing here?”

The white haired boy was quiet. Instead of looking to Robin, his line of vision trailed onto her desk – specifically to the week’s newspaper. “What did you think of Sumia’s poem?”

The girl blinked. “Funnily enough, I was just thinking about tha-“

“Not very good is it, huh?”

Well. Henry never really was the subtle type.

Robin pursed her lips and glanced to the boy’s facial expression. It hadn’t changed from his happy-go-lucky smile, of course, even at the mention of his best friend’s apparent failure.

“It’s not… The easiest to understand thing she’s ever written,” Robin admitted, flipping back to Sumia’s page. “At least it’s somewhat thematic.” She pointed to the mention of autumn. Henry just stared at her with no change in facial expression, which was sort of giving her the creeps. “S-so, uh… Why did you want to talk to me about it…?”

“I want to help her get out of her slump!” Henry announced, his loudness taking Robin by surprise. “She’s had an artblock or something recently, so I want to take her to someplace that should re-inspire her,” he explained, gesturing ecstatically with his arms. Robin thought about how this was the longest conversation she had held with Henry without him using any wildly inappropriate puns.

“And how are you going to miraculously fix her?”

Henry’s grin somehow grew even bigger. “Birds!”

Oh my Naga how more predictable could he be.

“…Birds?” Robin repeated, more tentatively.

Henry nodded enthusiastically. “Birds.” Robin motioned for him to elaborate. “The first poems she wrote were all bird related! So it’s gotta be her inspiration or muse thingy. I wanna take her on a birdwatching trip to remind her of that!”

Robin was tempted to point out that it wasn’t the actual _birds_ that were her muse, but what the birds _represented._ Yet again she couldn’t really explain to Henry that Sumia’s feelings for him were her real inspiration considering that, y’know, it wasn’t really any of her business.

“And I come into this equation because…?” Robin repeated her cyclical hand motion.

The white haired boy got a twinkle in his half-closed eyes. “Because I need you to be my _wing_ man!”

If Robin had a gun, a knife or any other vague instrument of death she would’ve ended it right there and then. Unfortunately, since she didn’t think she’d be able to papercut herself to death, she instead let out a deep, disappointed sigh.

“Okay, first of all, never say that again,” Robin began, pointing accusingly in Henry’s face. He seemed reluctant at first but he eventually gave a small nod of assent. “…And secondly, wouldn’t it be extremely awkward for me to come along as a third wheel to your birdwatching da-… Outing?”

Henry considered this. His smile dipped the slightest bit into a half-smirk – which was basically the Henry equivalent of a frown – before he perked up again and offered a solution. “Then you can bring Stahl with you!”

Her heart quickened slightly at the mention of her freckled, dozy friend. Robin quickly internally explained this away as a reaction to the slight change in temperature in the room; this definitely had nothing to do with any of her feelings in relation to Stahl. None. What. So. Ever.

“B-b-but,” she protested, grasping for an excuse to not bring him along. This whole scenario was shaping up to be a little too much like a double date for her tastes. The white haired boy cocked his head to one side, surprised and amused at her stuttering. Dammit, there really were no reasonable ways out of this. Sure, she could make up some audacious lie about Stahl being busy or deathly allergic to birds, but knowing Henry that’d probably just prompt him to think something weird. Like Robin was too embarrassed to be around him, or something. Which was totally, utterly, _not_ true in the slightest.

Robin was just… Having a little trouble with her feelings, was all. She’d occasionally get blips of weird feelings for Stahl, but for all she knew that could’ve just been a result of all his support recently. Or another case of Robin’s weekly crushes. And, as she’d expressed to Gaius a few days prior, Robin was _not_ going to toy around with Stahl like that. He was different. She didn’t want to lead him on only to then find out that this was one of her temporary spurts of affection – that’d be heartbreaking. Plus, there was still the matter of Cordelia…

“Aaaaare you done thinking up an excuse or can we just get a move on so I can go tell Sumia to meet me at the park in an hour?” Henry butted in, poking Robin’s cheek in an attempt to get her out of her stupor.

“Wh- excuse? Me? No…” Robin jumped and smacked away Henry’s hand, then waved her arms in an overly frantic manner. “There’s… Uh, no problem. Yeah. Go tell Sumia that the three of us will meet her there,” she consented slightly begrudgingly.

Henry seemed unconvinced but shrugged. “Sweet! See you later, Robin!” And with that chirp, the strange boy ran out of the office and bounded down the stairs, the emphatic click-clack of his shoes on the steps ringing out across the polished hallway.

Robin sighed and pulled out her phone. Another responsibility was heaped onto her shoulders, as if she didn’t have enough to deal with. Oh well – at least this would go relatively painlessly. It was just a birdwatching date, after all. Not a lot of horrifically stressful things could happen in such a peaceful place like a park.

Hoping that something extremely contradictory to her thoughts wouldn’t happen, she located Stahl’s contact and told him the plans.

* * *

“Why are we here again?” Stahl asked through a mouthful of bread. His words sent wisps of crumbs flying everywhere, one of which landed on his woollen, green scarf.

It was as cold as most November evenings came. Even though it was barely past 5 o’clock dark clouds were dominating the sky; most of the streetlights had already turned on. Robin had to wonder why Henry had planned a birdwatching expedition at a time where all of the birds had gone to sleep.

“Because Henry’s essentially on a date with Sumia, which he’s covered up as ‘a way to get her poetry muse back’, and I’m his wingman but it’d seem a little too weird and suspicious if I was here with them on my own, so Henry suggested I drag you along too to make it seem more natural,” Robin explained, her teeth chattering between sentences. The two were walking a few steps behind Henry and Sumia, both happily trotting along, so she was allowed to talk about the two with the knowledge that they probably couldn’t hear her. Not that she really cared if they did – it’d probably help Henry get straight to the point. Though, to be honest, the sound that Sumia’s giant pink overcoat made probably drowned out all sound more than 3 metres away.

Stahl thought for a moment, his reddened nose scrunching. “So I’m a wingman… For the wingman?”

“Yes. You’re kind of like that bit on a ladybird’s back that protects its wings. The pre-wing wings.”

This prompted a mischievous glint in Stahl’s hazel eyes as he bowed down dramatically to her. “Whatever you say, _m’lady_ bird.”

“Never say that again.”

The boy laughed at Robin’s sharp, deadpan reaction. She couldn’t help but crack a small smile at his silly joke, though hid it below her own black and purple striped scarf. “At least it’s better than any of Henry’s bird puns,” he said, flicking one of the fluffy bobbles on the end of Robin’s violet woollen hat.

“Pfft, barely,” she smirked, turning to glance at the boy. “At least Henry doesn’t look like an elf.” Robin pointed at the tips of Stahl’s red ears sticking out from beneath his olive curls.

Stahl chuckled and pulled out his ears more. “Hey, don’t say that! We elves have a lot of power over Christmas presents, you know. Yours might end up going mysteriously missing if you keep up that sass.”

“That’s probably for the best. If Santa Claus had to carry around a new typewriter or a full sized printer around on his back he’d probably get scoliosis.”

Stahl raised an eyebrow. “You want a new typewriter?” His tone switched from lighthearted to curious, focusing his softened gaze directly on Robin’s face. She coughed as an excuse to look away. Looking directly at his eyes made her cheeks warm – a dead giveaway in the cold environment.

“Ah… The ribbon keeps getting jammed and sometimes the S key doesn’t work properly,” she chuckled dryly to herself. “Try writing ‘Ylisse’s Star Students Assemble Splendiferous Festival’ without an S.”

“You could try using TH instead. Make it sound like the newspaper has a lisp,” Stahl suggested, his lopsided smile curling up the edge of one of his freckled cheeks.

Robin couldn’t help but burst aloud with laughter at his suggestion. “Oh my gods, _no!”_

“Why not? You could put an advert for speech correction or something at the end. It’d be quite the thenthational itthu- ow!” Stahl tried to mimic a lisp but ended up biting his tongue, which just crippled Robin with even more laughter.

“S-see, this is why y-you’re the _second_ in charge,” she managed to squeak inbetween breaths. While a dash of red had been added to the boy’s cheeks from his current embarrassment, Stahl couldn’t help but smile and chuckle along with her.

After the laughter died down, there was a quiet moment of levity between the two. It wasn’t an awkward silence by any means, but Robin still itched to break it. She just really enjoyed talking to Stahl. He got her in a way she felt that no one else did. From the moment they’d met they’d just… clicked. She liked talking to him.

“So…” She began, searching through their last conversation to find something to ask about. “…Do you know what you want for Christmas?”

Stahl considered this for a moment, tapping one of his reddened fingertips to his chin. “Hm… Maybe a new guitar? My one’s pretty worn, but at the same time it kind of feels wrong to get rid of it after all these years, y’know?” He gave Robin a warm smile, which she mirrored.

“A new guitar, huh? Hmmm maybe I could arrange something…” Robin considered, tapping her chin with her reddened fingertip. “… _If_ you play for me.” She smiled widely at Stahl. However, this time, his smile went limp.

“Well…” He began, awkwardly reaching to scratch the back of his head. “I, uh… I’m not a big fan of performing live for people. But I could maybe send you some sound files of me playing?” Stahl attempted a half-hearted grin, but she didn’t return it. She was kind of dismayed at his rejection. After all, she already had some sound files of Stahl’s performance from when she was helping edit Jay’s film.

“…Alright,” Robin conceded, deciding not to let her disappointment ruin the lighthearted mood. “But in that case, instead you have to write a song about me!” She declared, pointing at Stahl’s face with a mock serious expression.

“I can do that,” he chuckled. “What should I call it? _‘The Nosy Girl at School’…_? _‘My Club Leader’s A Weirdo’_?” The boy hummed, pretending to look thoughtfully at the clouds.

“No, no, no. It’s gotta be _‘The Most Beautiful And Amazing Person I’ve Ever Met’,_ ” Robin insisted.

“Mmm…” Stahl considered it for a few moments before conceding. “Yeah. Sure,” he smiled. Robin actually went quiet in surprise for a moment, some heat rising to her otherwise cold cheeks. But, she quickly shook this off – he was just joking after all. He didn’t _actually_ think of her that way… Probably.

“I wasn’t expecting you’d ask me to write a song about myself though,” Stahl grinned widely, a playful sparkle in his hazel eyes. Oh, godsdammit.

Robin couldn’t help but laugh and shove him lightly at the dumb joke. “Oh my gods, you dork!”

“We’re here!” Henry announced from in front of them, stopping Robin and Stahl’s banter. The white haired boy turned around and raised his arms, grinning from ear to ear.

They’d finally arrived in the centre of the park. The place was mostly empty as dusk was quickly approaching, but you could still hear a few distinct quiet chirps from the half-leaved trees above them. To be honest, Henry couldn’t have chosen a worst time of day or year to decide on a birdwatching outing.

A few moments of silence followed Henry’s enthusiastic cry.

“…So what are we doing now?” Robin asked.

“Oh, right!” Henry pulled the giant, suspiciously stained bag off of his shoulder and began rummaging through it. Robin swore she could see something try to escape, but Henry quickly pushed it back inside and finally pulled out a giant pile of binoculars and a loaf of bread. “Here! These are for the birdwatching.” He passed a pair of binoculars to each person. The boy considered giving the loaf of bread to Stahl, but realised what a horrible idea this was and gave it to Sumia instead.

“We just use these to look for birds and then give them bread crumbs to come over to us, right?” Sumia inquired, curious chocolate eyes glancing between the apparatus Henry had given them.

“Yup! Let’s goooooo!” Henry put on his binoculars and began running off, immediately smacking his head face first into a tree. Ironically, this caused the small number of birds in the tree to fly away out of fear. Before anyone could make a move to pick Henry back up, he just jumped to his feet and began running again. The three he left behind shared cautious looks, but followed after him anyway.

About half an hour passed of bird watching shenanigans. During this time Henry ran into approximately five trees, and Sumia tripped over nothing double that amount. This resulted in Stahl having to patch both of them up with a bag of Hello Taguel plasters, as well as half of the bread falling into a pond. Robin tried her best to be good at birdwatching – she _really_ did – and at one point she even managed to get a little sparrow to wander over to her. This was ruined, however, when she threw a whole slice of bread at it, burying the poor thing in a gluten hell. Stahl managed to rescue it by eating the bread (Robin was unsure why he didn’t just pick it up), and the bird shot Robin the most dirty, resentful look that she didn’t even know birds could do. She had a feeling she’d made some lifelong enemy that moment.

Their antics came to a pause when Henry ended up trapped in a thorn bush. They don’t know how he got in it, or why he couldn’t use that same method to get out of it, but this resulted in Stahl having to suffer the wrath of a billion thorns trying to devise a way to get him out. Sumia and Robin, meanwhile, were sat on a bench while they waited for Stahl to solve the branch-related maze puzzle.

“So…” Robin began tentatively, unsure how to breach the topic of Sumia’s problems. “What’s up with this whole ‘losing your muse’ thing?” She questioned, glancing sideways at Sumia.

The brunette sighed and leaned forward, fluffy, pink gloved hands on her reddening cheeks. “I… I guess I’m feeling a little disheartened,” she admitted, staring at the leaf covered dirt floor in front of her. A small gale of wind swept the area, causing the trees to whisper to eachother as their branches were buffeted side to side.

“Disheartened? About what?” Robin pushed, her natural curiosity kicking in. She watched as Sumia began fidgeting, her pink windbreaker making annoying shuffling noises as she moved. Instead of saying anything, Sumia just glanced over to the bush further down the path that Stahl was trying to wrestle Henry out of.

Ah. Boy troubles. Clichéd, but made sense.

“He’s kind of a weirdo, isn’t he?” Robin said, bluntly.

This solicited a stifled giggle from Sumia, her brown curls bouncing. “Yeah, you could definitely say that,” she admitted, her primrose pink lips pulled into a small smile. “He’s just… All fun and games, all the time. It’s one of my favourite things about him, but it’s just almost impossible to get him to talk about anything serious,” Sumia sighed. Robin could only imagine how annoying that would be. As it was, Stahl had a bad habit of occasionally waving off serious things as a joke.

“So are you not sure what your relationship is?” Robin knew she’d hit the nail on the head when she said that because she saw Sumia cringe instantly.

“I… Yes,” she admitted, quietly. “He acts like nothing has changed since we were little kids… But things have. W-well, for me at least,” Sumia chuckled nervously, quickly glancing towards Robin then immediately looking back at the floor. “I’ve grown up, and so has he, but he doesn’t act like it… I’m not sure, maybe it’s because he always got passed from family to family when he was little. That kind of thing must really mess up someone’s development,” the brunette muttered, a mournful expression pulling down her delicate features. Robin was interested in Henry’s troubled past, but knew better than to go probing more about it.

“Sounds like you might need to confront him about your feelings,” Robin suggested, nodding affirmatively to herself. “Otherwise you’re gonna keep going around in circles and not get anything sorted.”

Sumia couldn’t help but laugh at Robin’s suggestion. “This, coming from you, Robin?”

“Okay, look, well-“ Robin started getting flustered – she wasn’t used to being called out on her hypocrisy. Before she could get more worked up, however, Sumia just calmly waved her hand at her.

“It’s fine. It’s something that’s easier said than done, right?” Sumia smiled kindly. Robin took this lifeline and nodded emphatically, giving herself whiplash in the process. “Speaking of, though… How’s that crush on Chrom going?”

Robin grimaced. Did absolutely everybody know about that? “I’m… Uh, over him, actually.” She scratched her cheek, avoiding eye contact. It was still weird admitting that after exclusively fawning over the guy for months.

“Oh.” Sumia didn’t seem too surprised at this development. “I kinda get what you’re going through. I used to have a crush on Chrom too, actually,” she admitted.

What, has every girl in the entire school had a crush on this guy at some point? …Actually that really wouldn’t be surprising.

“It was just… Really hard to be myself around him.” The brunette glanced wistfully towards the swaying tree branches, a few stray hairs flowing across her cheek. “He’s just so dauntingly amazing. Any time I tried to talk to him I would just make a complete idiot of myself and get really embarrassed.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” Robin sighed, leaning back on the bench and recalling all of the times she acted like a crazy person around Chrom. Which is to say nearly every single time she was around Chrom.

Sumia nodded, smiling sympathetically at Robin. “But I never had that problem with Henry – I can always just… Be myself with him. And mess around and, and do stupid things like get stuff in bramble bushes and write silly poems about birds.” A pink blush bloomed in her cheeks as she reminisced, an excited glow emanating from her warm, brown irises.

“Ah. So _that’s_ why you love him.” Robin nodded, putting her hands on her hips.

“L-love is a strong word!” Sumia squeaked, immediately snapping out of her recollections.

“What are we talking about?” The familiar chirp of Henry sailed over Sumia’s shoulder. The girl clapped her pink gloves over her bright red face, turning to her friend with wide eyes.

“H-Henry! You got out!” Her exclamation was muffled through her thick gloves.

Henry grinned. “Yup! Though those thorns really did a number on me, though. You may as well call me a saint now – since I’m so hole-y! Nyahahaha!” Both Stahl and Robin groaned at the terrible joke, but Sumia actually laughed.

“I think my hands are 95% thorns now,” Stahl sighed, mourning the loss of his gloves and limbs to the aggressive ways of nature.

“Alright Chuckle Brothers, let’s just get going before we get locked in the park,” Robin interrupted the hijinks, getting to her feet and beginning to lead the way. The other three started following behind her as she walked down the dirt path.

Robin was trying to formulate a plan to sort out this Henry and Sumia business. There was no way Henry was going to do or say anything unless he was confronted about it, but Sumia seemed far too embarrassed to be the one to do it. This obviously left the role to Robin. She didn’t want to just make a scene though – that’d be super awkward and she didn’t feel like it was her place. So that left one tactic: subtlety.

“Hey Henry.” Robin slowed her walking to fall back in line with the other three, making her way inbetween Henry and Stahl. The white haired boy glanced at her, eyebrows raised. “Do you have any girls you like?” Robin Finch: master of subtlety.

Sumia and Stahl both raised eyebrows at Robin’s tactics. Henry, meanwhile, didn’t flinch. “Of course! I like loads of girls. I like you, Sumia, Lissa, and all of the other girls in our friend group!” He grinned.

Damn, this guy’s good.

“Riiiiiight, well,” Stahl chimed in, giving Robin a Look. A Look that said ‘I don’t know why you’re doing this but I guess I’ll help’. “But are there any girls you like _more?”_ Sweet, Stahl’s joining in. Sumia looked bashful and glanced to her feet, but didn’t say anything to interrupt.

Henry immediately shot back a reply. “Well of course! I like Sumia the most, obviously! She’s been my bestie for years after all,” he explained, holding a hand out flat in front of him to emphasise his point.

Damn, this guy’s _too_ good. Frustrating, even.

Stahl and Robin swap annoyed looks. Sumia, meanwhile, just seemed to collapse in on herself more with each evasive reply Henry makes.

“Okay, yeah, sure, obviously,” Robin huffs, her annoyance getting the better of her. “But isn’t there something _more_ there? Like, you’re always together, and you seem _way_ closer than friends.” A small silence ensues Robin’s push.

Henry kept looking forward, almost ignoring what she said completely. Sumia was about to open her mouth but before she could say anything, the boy shouted, “Hey, look! That bird looks impec(k)able!” Then ran off before anyone could stop him.

The three remaining shared exasperated expressions and then started jogging to catch up with him. When they round the corner, Henry’s already somehow in the branches of a tree.

“Henry, you should get down from there! That looks really dangerous!” Sumia called upto him, concern catching her voice.

He doesn’t listen to her, instead slinking forward further on branches. “Relax, Sumia! I’ve climbed a billion trees before, this is no big dea-“ Just as Henry said that, a resounding _‘crack’_ echoed from the branch he just stepped on. Within the space of a second Henry went from standing in the tree, to lying splayed out on the ground.

“H- _Henry!_ ” Sumia shrieked, immediately rushing over to her enfeebled friend. Stahl and Robin quickly hurried up behind her, the former quickly pulling out medical supplies from his bag.

“Whew, guess I really misjudged that, huh? You could say I really went out on a _limb_ , eh? Eh?” Henry sat up from his crumpled spot on the ground, yet still grinned widely at his stupid joke.

“You… You…!” Sumia began breathlessly, fists balled, her entire body shaking. _“I can’t believe I fell for such an IDIOT!”_ She screeched. Sumia’s delicate features were twisted and hardened in ways Robin would never had imagined – she looked even scarier than Maribelle that time Ricken broke her antique china cup.

An opaque silence followed Sumia’s outbursts. Henry didn’t retort with a witty comeback, no birds chirping were heard. Heck, somehow even the trees had stopped making any noise. It was as if the entire park was shocked to see such a sweet, sensitive girl was capable of raising her voice to that high a decibel.

“You… Fell for me?” Henry’s unusually quiet and flat comment was the thing to break the spell. All of a sudden the sounds resumed, and Sumia finally came to realise what she had just done. The creases melted from her brow; the girl’s stern frown transformed into an open-mouthed gape of terror.

“I…! Need to go!” The brunette squeaked, immediately making a 180 and running as fast as she could the way they’d come from. Henry stayed where he sat, completely speechless. Any traces of a smile were completely gone. It was strangely unnatural to look at, and filled Robin with a strange mix of unease and pity she’d never really felt before.

Finally, sighing, Robin turned to Stahl. “Can you look over Henry while I go sort out Sumia?”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” Stahl nodded, lips pulled in a straight line. The concern smothering his face was obvious. He quietly kneeled next to Henry and continued pulling out his medical supplies, quietly cooing to Henry about how everything was going to be okay. Not that he looked like he was listening. It sure was lucky that Stahl had predicted that someone would grievously injure themselves.

Leaving those two, Robin began running in the direction Sumia went. She followed the dirt trail for a while, not seeing a trace of the brunette the entire time. For a bit she was scared that she’d ran off into the forest, off the path, but considering how dark it was getting Robin didn’t want to risk getting herself lost. Finally she came to the entrance they’d come in and glanced around. Outside the crude cement-coloured building that were labelled as the ‘toilets’, Robin saw Sumia’s large pink windbreaker. Sighing in relief that she didn’t have to wander around a dark forest for another half hour, Robin walked into the female labelled section of the building.

She was immediately greeted with that horrible stench that can only be found in public toilets that, presumably, was the breeding ground to half of the diseases on the planet. The harsh halogen lights screwed to the ceiling blinded her for a second, illuminating the dirty white tiles and three closed lime-green stalls. Aside from the sound of Robin’s shoes on the floor and the buzzing of the lights, the only other sound she could hear was the soft sobbing coming from the stall on the end.

“Sumia?” Robin began, tentatively. The soft sobbing stopped for a few seconds.

“H-here,” the girl replied, voice choked with emotion. Robin felt her heart ache slightly at the noise.

“Are you okay?” She half-whispered, walking over to the stall Sumia was in. It was a dumb question, obviously, but Robin never was the best at dealing with upset people.

Sumia choked a sob before managing an answer. “N-not really,” she began, sniffing. “I-I don’t think… That Henry sees me in the same way I-I see him…” The girl admitted, just about managing to stop herself from bursting into tears again. Robin stayed quiet.

While it was true that Henry was utterly shocked by Sumia’s confession, Robin didn’t think that meant he didn’t feel the same way. Sumia was probably one of the sweetest and most lovely people she’d met, after all. She’d no doubt that most guys would jump at the chance to go out with her. Henry always did so much for Sumia, too. Like that time he covered himself in feathers to become her witch’s familiar at Halloween. It looked stupid as hell, but still – at least he tried.

“You know,” Robin started, trying to choose her words carefully. Sumia stayed silent. “I don’t know if he told you, but Henry was the one who planned this trip. He seemed really worried about your loss of inspiration and wanted to recapture your muse. He interpreted it wrong, obviously, but that’s the whole reason we’re here. And he specifically asked me here as a wingman,” she paused, considering this. “It would be kind of weird to ask that of me if he wouldn’t somehow feel awkward of going on a date-like excursion with just the both of you. If he really didn’t think of you that way at all, he’d have no reason to even consider feeling awkward; he’d just see it as an outing with a friend or something. But he did, so…” Robin trailed off, not really having anything else to say.

It felt like an eternity, but Sumia finally opened the stall door and walked out. Despite her reddened eyes and shiny cheeks, Sumia actually seemed really happy. Her smile was small but bright, and her dark eyes sparkled with a renewed sense of hope.

“Thank you.” The girl rubbed her eyes and sighed deeply. “Let’s get back to the guys.”

Robin nodded, relieved to have the drama over and done with. “Yeah. Let’s.”

* * *

When Robin and Sumia returned to where they’d left the boys, they found that only one of them was still there. Henry was sat calmly on a bench, a long white bandage wrapped around his arm and a couple of plasters stuck on his face where he’d grazed himself. Probably the most interesting thing about this scene, however, was that Henry was completely covered in small birds. They peeped quite happily from where they sat, pecking at some little crumbs of bread that Henry had apparently covered himself in.

Robin glanced at the other girl, who was having difficulty containing a sweet smile at the sight. Wordlessly, Sumia ambled over to the bench and sat beside Henry. The white haired boy turned his head slowly towards her, careful not to disturb the bird on his head. They were quiet for a while, neither really sure what to say.

Sumia was the first one to speak. “Where did you get these little guys from?” She spoke softly, as if anything could scare the birds away.

“I just crumbled up pieces of bread and put the crumbs all over myself to see what would happen,” Henry admitted, mimicking Sumia’s gentle coo. “Do you want one?” Sumia gave him a single nod in response. He beckoned her closer to him and, when they were sitting close enough to touch, Henry carefully dipped his head to touch hers. The little grey bird that was sat upon his head slowly hopped onto Sumia’s, seeming content enough to sit down on his new nest.

The both of them just sat in silence there like that. Henry didn’t move his head from Sumia’s. The only part of them moving were the little birds that still lined Henry’s legs and his free arm.

“Well, this got a lot more awkward for us.” Stahl suddenly appeared from the ether, teleporting to Robin’s side, and naturally made her jump out of her skin.

“Dude where the _hell_ did you come from?!” Robin shout-whispered, a hand on her chest to try and stop herself from having a heart attack.

Stahl glanced to the large cardboard box of hotdogs he held in his hands, then back to Robin. “Obviously I went to Russia to obtain the super top secret codes to the vault where they keep all their nuclear armaments.”

Robin narrowed her eyes at his heavy use of sarcasm. Stahl just smiled at her with his usual lopsided grin, his red ears sticking out from his messy locks of olive brown hair.

“Those aren’t radioactive hotdogs, are they?”

Stahl shrugged. “Maybe. If you eat one you’ll either die or get superpowers.”

“That would be the lamest superhero origin ever.”

“Speak for yourself, I want radioactive hotdog powers,” Stahl said before shoving a hotdog in his mouth.

Robin just rolled her eyes at his antics and turned back to Henry and Sumia. The way those two looked at eachother… Was just so indescribable. It was like a mixture of soft, caring adoration, mixed with this fierce desire to be next to one another. It was kind of scary how intense it was. Robin felt like she was always sure of what love was – of what it looked like. She thought that was what she felt when she ran after crushes; she thought that love was that all-devouring infatuation that made you feel like maybe – just maybe – if the subject of that infatuation gave you attention, then it’d be content.

But looking at Henry and Sumia, she wasn’t so sure about that anymore. That mutual kind of love didn’t look quite so ferocious or starved than she’d assumed. It was a lot more gentle and calm than that – more of a calm lake than a crashing waterfall. Was there any way that Robin could look at someone like those two did? Was there anyone who could look at _her_ like those two did?

She glanced back at Stahl, now finishing his hot dog and watching the couple. He seemed genuinely happy for them, the side of his lip upturned, creating a small dimple on his freckly cheek. He caught her gaze and turned towards Robin. His hazel eyes were so warm and kind, giving Robin a feeling of comfort despite being whipped by cold, November winds.

“They look really happy, huh?” He gestured his head to the two on the bench. “Seems like she finally got through to him.”

Robin smiled up at Stahl. “Yeah.” She pushed a lock of her silver hair over her shoulder. “I guess she did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What yes I'm posting two chapters consecutively after like a 2 year hiatus don't judge me like that

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! This is my first time writing a proper fanfic, so comments and critiques would be very much appreciated! This is going to be the first part of (hopefully) a series focusing on the drama of Robin trying to set up a functional newspaper club. Eventually I'm hoping that most of the cast of FE13 will be introduced, along with being able to put out some pairings and ask you guys for suggestions in return c: I hope you'll enjoy it!
> 
> Oh, I'd also like to say that this story is heavily influenced by blinkingbrave's works, most notably 'Banding Together'. If you like this story and haven't read theirs yet, I'd recommend giving it a read!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, those belong to Nintendo


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